


Animorphs: Time to Change

by gooseweasel



Series: Animorphs Who [1]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Doctor Who
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Crossover, Gen, Science Fiction, Tenth Doctor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2014-03-19
Packaged: 2018-01-13 10:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1222120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gooseweasel/pseuds/gooseweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cassie finds herself as the only Animorph not sick, she struggles to find a way to save a member of the Yeerk Peace Movement that she once befriended AND to perform brain surgery on Ax before his time runs out. Meanwhile, the 10th Doctor and Rose find themselves forcibly thrown into another universe. Takes place during Vol 29 of Animorphs and Series 2 of Doctor Who. Some familiarity with both series recommended but not necessarily required.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> While I'm trying to remain as accurate to the canon of both series as possible for a crossover, I'll be the first to admit that I make mistakes, and sometimes I forget an important detail here or there. Since I don't have a beta-reader or anyone checking my works, I may go back at some point, realize an error, and fix it, but I will make a note of that in later chapters so that readers will know. 
> 
> There is a bit of mild shipping in the fic, but it sticks to established pairings in the canon of both works. I have no intention of turning this into any resembling the romance genre, so any and all shipping will be mild.
> 
> Uh, I don't think I have anymore notes for readers? But please do let me know if you notice anything blatantly wrong, or even if you just want to tell me how much you're enjoying it. I really like getting feedback of any sort.

 

 

**Animorphs: Time to Change**

 

 

_We can't tell you who we are. Or where we come from. It's too risky, and we've got to be careful. Really careful. So we don't trust anyone. Because if they find us... well, we just won't let them find us._

_The thing you've got to know is that everyone is in really big trouble. Yeah. Even you._

 

_Sometimes, though, there are people who are able to help. People with even stranger stories then us…_

 

 

* * *

 

Animorphs 29: The Sickness

 

My name is Cassie.

 

Just Cassie. I have a nice last name, really. And I would give anything to be able to tell you what it is, because that would mean it was safe. That I was a normal girl, with a normal life. But I am anything but a normal girl.

 

And right now, I was alone.

 

My friends, the Animorphs, were all sick. And I was going to have to do a mission on my own. Make decisions, on my own, that could determine the fate of the entire human race. And I wasn’t so sure I could handle that pressure, but there wasn’t any choice. Because the Yeerks are here, and they had to be stopped, before everything we knew and loved was lost forever. You see the Yeerks are parasites, like tapeworms or ticks or all those other pests that we treated in my family’s barn, also known as the Wildlife Rehabilitation clinic. They look so harmless, like big slugs. But they were so, so far from harmless. The Yeerks are aliens, and unlike those other, normal Earth creatures that I knew so well, they couldn’t be treated with a pill. They crawl inside of the ear, and take control of you from inside your own brain. All of your thoughts, emotions, and feelings are theirs now, and they use them to try and create even more hosts, Controllers, for their fellow Yeerks. It’s a perfect disguise, and it was why we have to guard our identities so closely. We’d never know if they were a human, or a Yeerk we were talking to.

 

It was hard, not to judge them. We were told they spread across the galaxies like a plague, enslaving and destroying as they went. But then I met Aftran, a Yeerk who wanted nothing more than a better life than that of a blind, helpless slug. She showed us, me, that there were Yeerks who would be willing to live in peace, given the chance. And now, she had sent word, through another Controller, whose voluntary host Mr. Tidwell was a teacher in my school, that she had been captured. That because of me, she was to be tried, and likely tortured, by Visser Three, the leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth. If he, and the rest of the Yeerks, managed to find out through her the identity of my friends and I, we would be captured and enslaved ourselves, along with our family and friends, anyone we cared about.

 

The Yeerks would win, if that happened. We, the Animorphs, were Earth’s last and only line of defense. Because of one fateful night, cutting through an abandoned construction site, everything changed.

 

We had been given the incredible power to turn into any animal we touched. Using this gift, we had managed to hold off the invasion, hoping that one day, help would come from the Andalites, inventors of the morphing cube.

Tobias, the boy who had chosen the life of a hawk over his broken human one.

 

Rachel, my best friend. Perfect, beautiful, and a warrior who I feared might be one day consumed by passion for battle.

 

Marco: smart, funny Marco, whose mother was a Controller, and who saw the world so differently than me.

 

Jake, our fearless leader, who I loved despite never daring to say so, and who made the hard decisions. Ones that I was going to have to make in his place, because all of my friends were sick.

 

And because the last of us, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, an Andalite from another world who’s brother’s dying moments had been used to give us a way to fight, was laying in my family’s barn, concealed by an android named Erik, slowly growing sicker from an illness I couldn’t begin to understand. From a diseased mass in his brain, that I had no hope of finding without possibly maiming or killing him. When his fever dropped below 91.3 degrees, I would need to perform brain surgery on an alien.

 

Ax was dying, and I had no idea how to fix him. There wasn’t a doctor on the planet that I could trust, or who would even begin to know what to do if I showed them what would to them look like a blue-furred centaur with too many eyes and no mouth. And the clock was ticking. Somehow, I had to save him and Aftran. I didn’t know how, but I knew this much.

 

I needed help.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Doctor Who: Series 2, After Episode 11

 

Hurtling through space, the TARDIS suddenly lurched sideways, knocking its passengers off-balance. Frantically, the Doctor flipped switches, running about the center console.

 

“No no no no no!” He shouted, and knocked an already off-balanced Rose Tyler backwards from where she was clinging to the machine in attempt to reach another whirring knob with his foot. The TARDIS gave another aggressive leap, and the walls shook.

 

“Doctor! What’s going on!?” Rose yelled, trying to be heard over the whooshing, whining ruckus around her.

 

“There’s some sort of temporal anomaly in the time vortex. The TARDIS is being pulled, but I can’t get a reading as to where or when! Come on!” He yelled at the console, pushing buttons even faster now, and pulled a large lever.

 

The TARDIS shaking only increased, and the noises became even louder. Suddenly, the doors of the police box flew open.

 

“DOCTOR!”

 

Hearing Rose’s scream, the Doctor turned around just in time to see her sucked out of the TARDIS and into a whirling mass of space and time. For a split-second, he thought of jumping out after her. However, the doors of the TARDIS were blown shut from the violent movements of the police box, and suddenly, without warning, the whole thing slammed to a halt, throwing the Doctor across the floor. Quickly standing up, he began pushing buttons across the console.

 

“Where are we? Where is she? Come on!” He slammed his hand on the nearby railing. “Give me something I can work with here!”

 

The TARDIS made more noise, and the lights around the Doctor began to flicker.

 

“No no no!” Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor tried to boost what little power seems to be left. The screen in front of him flashed information in Gallifreyan, and few brief bits of information, before going blank. The TARDIS itself slowly dims its lights around him.

 

“Oh… this is not good… Earth, year 1998, California… Rose is nearby…” He paused, and walked to the door of the TARDIS. “Wrong Earth, though. Wrong universe, even. Not good. ”

 

Opening the door, he stepped outside, and looked around at a suburban neighborhood. Dusk was falling, and everything appeared to be quite normal, boring even. But something had pulled the TARDIS to this place, and he was going to have to figure out what… as soon as he found Rose.

 

“Let’s see… we’re looking for someone out of their time… should be easy enough.” Fiddling with the sonic screwdriver, he soon had it on the correct setting, and the familiar noise pointed him the direction of a nearby home.

 

“Allons-y!” With a mad grin, the Doctor took off running, towards the signal he thought was Rose Tyler.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

\--Direct Quote from Book--

\-- I rode my bike up Mr. Tidwell's driveway and parked it. Then I hurried to his front door. He swung it open before I had the chance to ring the bell.

 

"Where are the others?" he demanded.

 

"Sick."

 

"It's just you?"

 

"Yes. Me. Me or no one."

 

He hesitated only a moment, then he drew me inside.

 

"So where should we do this?" he blurted the second I was inside. "Bathroom? Kitchen? Where?"

 

He kept touching his ear, rubbing his finger around the edge. He seemed totally freaked by what we were about to do. I felt like telling him to join the club. But I figured that would only make things worse.

 

"Kitchen's fine," I answered. I led the way, even though it was his house. Even though he was a teacher and I was a kid. There wasn't time to waste on all that. I sat down at the kitchen table and waved Mr. Tidwell down into the chair next to me.

 

"Now?" he asked.

 

"Let's do it!" I said.

 

It was Rachel's line. But Rachel wasn't there. Maybe it would bring us luck. All of us.

 

Mr. Tidwell tilted his right ear toward the table. I leaned down. My eyes locked themselves on the hole at the ear's center. I couldn't look away.

The opening to the hole began to glisten. Then a pencil-thin wand of wet gray flesh slid out. It wiggled this way and that. Almost as if it were tasting the air.

 

Shh-lop. Shh-lop. Shh-lop.

 

More of the gray flesh squeezed itself out of Mr. Tidwell's ear.

 

\-- End Direct Quote --

 

Suddenly, a tall, lanky man in a trench coat stormed into the kitchen. I saw Mr. Tidwell freeze next to me, and I began running through options in my head of morphs that might be necessary. The man, though, did not seem to notice the strangeness in front of him, at least not immediately.

 

“Well then Rose Tyler, I think…”

 

It was if he finally realized how odd what was happening in front of him really was. Me, carefully watching a man bent over a counter, Yeerk slug halfway out of his ear. His eyes though, lit up with curiosity, rather than fear or disgust or anger. Hopefully that was a good sign. Hopefully it meant that, whoever he was, he wasn’t a Yeerk.

 

“This is new… Am I interrupting something? And have either of you seen a blonde? Rose Tyler, nice girl, tends to wander off at unfortunate times.”

 

It was at that moment that Illim completely freed himself from Mr. Tidwell’s ear canal and landed on the kitchen countertop with a loud plop.

 

“Oh that is very interesting! Never seen anything like you before.”

 

Before Mr. Tidwell or I could even think to react, the man had run forward to look at Illim. His eyes were wide with excitement, and he spoke quickly in a British accent. But I couldn’t let him know what Illim was. Controller or not, it was too dangerous for regular people to know about the Yeerks. Whoever he was, he’d be much safer if I could think of a good excuse for what he had just seen.

 

“It’s… uh… just a grey slug. It was crawling on him. N-nothing to be worried about, we got it off!”

 

Mr. Tidwell snapped out his shock at the stranger’s sudden arrival to back me up.

 

“Unfortunately, uh, yes, really. I was out gardening, and this nice girl offered to help get it off!”

 

He nervously fiddled with his ear, rubbing the area where Illim had exited moments before. We needed this guy to buy our story, or the whole operation, the whole world, could be in trouble.

 

“Uh-huh… that is interesting…”

 

He wasn’t buying our story. I thought frantically for something, anything to say to get him out of here.

 

“So, uh, as you can see. Everything’s fine!”

 

I forced myself to grin, and I could tell it must have looked horribly fake.

 

“Did you say you were looking for someone? I don’t think she’s here, sorry, maybe you should go look somewhere else?”

 

“Yes… but something is strange about this little bugger here…”

 

Peering quizzically, he took a step back, and then I saw it. A strange, metal, definitely alien instrument in his hand. And he was about to point it at the Yeerk on the counter.

 

“WAIT! Don’t hurt him! Please!”

 

Mr. Tidwell yelled before I could even react. The desperation in his voice… I hadn’t realized, I had been so preoccupied with saving Ax and Aftran, but it occurred to me now that Mr. Tidwell and Illim might actually be friends. It was strange, but hopeful thing to think. Even after everything that has happened, that there might still be a chance for our species to coexist peacefully... But right now there were much more important matters to worry about. The strange British man with what was definitely alien technology was still pointing his weapon directly at the Yeerk lying helpless at the table. His manner was not threatening, but I was very, very worried. Slowly, subtly, I began to morph, changing features that were easy to hide, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

 

“Oh that is brilliant then! It’s intelligent. I thought so! Alien, yes? Bit of expert on them; well… bit of an alien myself, but not important right now! Symbiotic parasite, is it then? Fascinating. Most humans from this time period I’ve met don’t even realize the existence of aliens, let alone form this type of partnership with them. Why’d he come out? Seems a bit dodgy having him lying all helpless there. I suppose he can’t communicate without being inside you, yeah? “

 

He spoke so rapidly; I could barely process what was coming out his mouth. An alien? Time periods? The morph was as far as I could take it without become very, very obvious that there was a half-wolf girl standing in the kitchen as well. Next to me, Mr. Tidwell, scooped up Illim, and allowed the Yeerk to climb back into his ear, clearly concerned for his safety, and unsure of how to react himself. The stranger watched with fascination.

 

“Wonderful! Humans, sharing their bodies with aliens! Oh the things I get to see!” He turned to face me, excitement clear on his face. “Do you have one in you as well?”

 

I reacted without even thinking.

 

“No, of course I’m not a Controller! Don’t you understand how awful that would be?”

 

A throat-clearing cough behind me alerted me to the fact that Illim had finished reconnecting to Mr. Tidwell’s brain.

 

“Sorry, Illim, but you understand what I mean.”

 

“Of course,” replied Dr. Tidwell/Illim, I couldn’t tell of course, “That is why we are here.”

 

“Look,” I turned to the strange, now confused looking man before us. Confused, but still pleased, I noticed. It was exciting to him, not knowing… interesting.

 

“The slug you just saw is called a Yeerk. They are a parasitic species invading Earth, taking on hosts by force, and basically enslaving the entire planet in a secret war. Illim and Mr. Tidwell,” I gestured to my teacher, who had taken a seat at the kitchen counter and was fidgeting uncomfortably there, “are members of the Yeerk Peace Movement. They need my help, the Animorphs help, to rescue one of their members, a friend of mine, Aftran.”

 

 _Which is starting to look even more impossible_ I thought to myself.

 

“Animorph, eh? Are you an alien as well? Oh this is brilliant, so many new species in this universe. Amazing how things can change. Not good about that invasion though…” He fiddled with his weapon, spinning it and looking thoughtful. “I suppose we’ll have to be stopping that then. Right.”

 

Pausing, from another long string of questions (When did he expect me to answer them?) the strange man looked at me.

 

“I’m the Doctor, by the way. Last of the Time Lords, traveler from another universe. Something grabbed a hold of my TARDIS, and I lost track of my friend Rose in the chaos. Not a big deal, I know she’s close by; the temporal energy is strong in this area. But once I find her, I think I might be able to help you with this invasion problem. “

 

I didn’t know what to say. This strange person, alien, had show up, out of nowhere, and offered his assistance without knowing anything about, well, anything. But he said he was a doctor… an alien doctor! And I was running out of time, and options. I needed to know, right now, if I was going to be able to trust him. Without a word, I continued the morph. Fur spread out from my chest up my face and down my arms and legs… thank goodness the clothes I worn over here were close enough to a morphing suit to work for the transformation. I felt my bones shifting in my jaw, my already transformed teeth fitting in to place. I did my best to transform as quickly, and elegantly as possible. Morphing could look disgusting, even horrifying, but my friends always said that I had a knack for making it look nice. Hopefully, this stranger would think so too. If he was truly an alien doctor, then maybe, just maybe, he would know how to save Ax…

 

As I finished the final changes, I turned my now golden wolf eyes up to look at the alien who called himself the Doctor. He did smell… different. Not human, certainly. But he didn’t make the wolf instincts nervous, either. It was an unfamiliar scent… and old scent. I don’t know how to describe it. But I did know then that there was no way he was a Controller. No Yeerk would ever look at a morph and think anything but disgust and hatred. But his eyes were joyous, alit with excitement… with something else beneath them that might have been sadness. I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t have time to question it, not with so many people’s lives at risk.

 

“Oh! That is just brilliant! Wonderful!”

 

Before I could react, a glow came from his weapon, and strange noise that made the wolf’s hair stand on end. But nothing hurt, or caused pain, and it seemed to be safe enough. With a manic grin, the doctor continued firing off questions.

 

“Not a hologram or a perception filter. You’ve changed yourself on a genetic level. That is fascinating. How did you manage that? What planet are you from then? Can you communicate in that form? I should be able to translate most languages through the psychic link with the TARDIS.”

 

< I can use thought-speak. I just have to direct my thoughts at you >.

 

He was like a child. An excited child who had just seen the greatest thing of his entire life, and was dying to find out more about it. But with old eyes, I could see that now. An old child. I thought back to the Howler’s and their simple minds and childlike innocence. Could he be similar?

 

“A psychic communication. Excellent. Perfect. Great!” He paced around me, practically skipping. Normally, this would have made the wolf mind nervous, but it seemed calmer than usual. It was confusing.

 

< I’m not an alien though. Just a human with access to alien technology that allows me to absorb the DNA of any animal I can touch and morph into it. The Andalites created it, and it’s how my friends and I are able to fight in this war>.

 

“Andalites… hmm... I haven’t heard of them either. This must be a very separate universe, a lot less parallels here. What happens-“

 

< I’m sorry. I don’t have time to explain >.

 

I had to cut him off. I didn’t have time, and I doubt I had the answers to the questions he was going to ask. Using the morphing technology is one thing, but understanding it is completely beyond my grasp.

 

<Listen. Please. I have to go save Aftran from the Yeerk pool> I started demorphing, ready to go along with the original plan of acquiring Illim and using a Yeerk morph to get past the Gleet Bio-Filters.

 

< I would really like to help you find your friend, and I’m sure you could help us. But right now, my friend Ax is dying, and needs brain surgery. You say you’re a doctor? Can you help him? He’s an Andalite. I don’t know anything about the anatomy…>

 

The morph began to finish, and I was standing once again, human, in Mr. Tidwell’s kitchen. Mr. Tidwell, for the record, was handling things quite well, given how nervous he appeared to be. Things were not even close to going according to plan, and while I was used to this happening, he certainly wasn’t.

 

“I know you just met me. But I need your help. Please” I looked at this strange British sounding alien, still mesmerized from watching the morph.

 

“I’ve never heard of an Andalite until just now. I’m sorry. I’m not that kind of doctor. But!” His voice became more enthusiastic. “ I think I should be able to help you save your Yeerk friend Aftran. At the, uh, Yeerk Pool, you called it? Should be easy enough. I don’t know much about the technology here, but the sonic screwdriver here-“ the doctor flipped the alien metal… screwdriver… in his hands- “Should be able to get through just about any security they might have”.

 

“You don’t understand,” Illim spoke up now using Mr. Tidwell’s mouth. “My people will expect intruders. The Animorphs-“ He gestured to me, and I nodded, “have broken in numerous times. The security measures will be intense, and they will be on the look out for any suspicious activity. And if they capture, you will be infested. Any information, any knowledge you posses, will be theirs. The Yeerk Empire will not hesitate to use you, and everyone you care about, to their advantage. If you are an alien, one with access to technology we don’t understand, the risk is too great… even for Aftran’s sake.”

 

“Oh, well… I don’t think you should count me out that quickly. I have experience fighting an empire or two. “ The man who called himself the Doctor grinned devilishly, and for some reason, I trusted him. In that second, there was something in eyes that told me he was telling the truth, and we didn’t have time to debate further.

 

“He can come, Mr. Tidwell, Illim” I grinned, trying to look more confident then I felt. I could be dooming us all, Aftran, my friends, the whole human race. “I might need back up, and he certainly seems to know what he’s doing.” I needed to be brave. Like my friends. I wasn’t good at being brave, or bold. But there weren’t any more options.

 

“There are going to be some things you’re going to need to know, but I’ll fill you in on the way, Doctor…?” I paused, unsure of what name to use.

 

“Just the Doctor is fine,” he grinned, looking much more confidant than I felt.

 

“Well, just the Doctor, I’m just Cassie,” I joked, trying to keep myself cool. More for myself than any of them, I repeated Rachel’s motto.

 

“Let’s do this!”

 

 

* * *

 

Rose Tyler

 

Rose Tyler had been in a lot of tight spots with the Doctor on their travels together, though none of them had been quite this _literally_ tight. She found herself pressed in between what felt like a wall and heavy, metal container of some sort… at least far as she could tell. It was dark, with only a faint light coming from across the room. And her head was throbbing, possibly from, she realized, being flung from the TARDIS mid-flight and landing… wherever she was now.

 

“Ouch. Geez. Where did that mad box drop me then?”

 

Squeezing herself about and rearranging herself, she stood up, squinting towards the light. She couldn’t see past the brightness, but she could hear… something, outside of what she guessed was a door.

 

“Doctor! You here?”

 

She called out, looking around. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and it appeared that she was in some kind of storage room. Metal boxes were piled up around her. Walking further into the room, she looked at one sitting in the light, and saw that they were labeled with an alien language. After a brief moment, the TARDIS psychic connection took over, and the words were legible to her.

 

“Dracon Weaponry… that sounds dangerous.”

 

Turning, she gave one last look around the room to see if the TARDIS or the Doctor were here.

 

“Guess I’m on my own then for now. Great.”

 

Rose turned to leave, and slowly poked her head out the cracked open door into the light. She appeared to be in a long hallway; probably underground judging by the rough stonewalls. It was well lit from utility lights running across the ceiling, and appeared to be empty. A few more doors, all shut, were visible. Rose took a cautious step into the hallway.

 

“Hullo? Is there anyone there?” she called out, her voice echoing faintly down the corridors.

 

Listening carefully, she thought she could hear voices coming from the left, and began heading that way. There was something… unsettling about this place, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on exactly what. There was clearly something alien at work here, but without knowing, where, or when she was, it was hard to say if it was friendly or not.

 

“S’long as it’s not Daleks or Cybermen, I think I’ll be alright, yeah?” she said, to no one in particular.

 

Up ahead, she could hear noises… hissing and something rather animal sounding. Or alien sounding, it was hard to say. One of the doors ahead of her opened into the hallway and gave Rose her answer.

 

A pair of what were clearly aliens, though none that she recognized from her travels, stepped into the hallway. One was quite tall, with a serpentine head and covered in scales. What was truly impressive about it, however, were the large blades coming out in intervals up and down its body. The other was, well, even by Rose’s new standards on alien life, disgusting. Like a giant centipede, or caterpillar, it’s had a large, tooth filled mouth with arms beneath constantly moving as if to shovel in food. Rose gave a brief shudder, but she wasn’t going to judge too quickly. Neither alien seemed particularly surprised to see her, a human, here, so there was good chance they were friendly. She decided to take a chance.

 

“Scuse me! Um, hello! I’m Rose Tyler; I’m looking for a friend of mine, the Doctor? Can you help me?”

 

She definitely had their attention now. The tall bladed one stared at her and grunted words at her, simple words, as if it was difficult for it to talk.

 

“Don’t know Doctor… Who you? Not supposed to be here. No human hosts here”

 

Rose wasn’t sure how to answer that. Before she had a chance, to think, the large yellow centipede hissed more words, more questions at her. It was difficult to understand, but the TARDIS translation did its job still.

 

“What isssss your name and ranksss? Why hassss you come to thissss weaponsssss?”

 

The hissing, spitting noises coming from the alien’s mouth were disgusting and Rose couldn’t help but cringe.

 

“Rose Tyler… I’m a friend of the Doctor’s. I fell out his ship, the TARDIS? I don’t know where I am, sorry. Could you help me?” She wasn’t sure if she was getting through to them or not, but began walking closer, hands spread in what she hoped was a harmless looking gesture. “Could you tell me where I am, at least?”

 

“No Yeerk. Not host. You should not see us. Not be here.” The bladed one took a step towards her, and raised a one arm, pointing what was clearly a weapon at her. Rose took a step back, quickly.

 

“No, no! Not Yeerk, no! But I’m friendly, see!” she raised her hands above her head in a surrendering gesture. “See friendly, no need for that!”

 

Saliva dripped from the centipede creature’s mouth, still moving frantically. “You come. Sssseeee Vissssser. He’ll dessssidde what to do withsss you.”

 

The serpentine head of the other, covered in blades, stared down at her menacingly, and Rose knew she wasn’t going to be given a choice in the matter.

 

“Alright, alright. I’ll come see this… Visser, with you, yeah? I don’t want any trouble.”

 

She walked towards them, arms still raised in surrender. The forced her to walk in front of them, and she knew she probably still had a weapon pointed at her back as they headed down the hallway. As they walked, she could hear the noises up ahead growing louder. It was then that she realized what the sound was, and fear began to fill up inside of her. They reached the end of the hallway, and large door opened up in front of them. Rose took a step into the large, open cavern in front of her. It was enormous, and as she guess, clearly underground. A large lake, with several piers jutting out into it, filled most of the center. Around it were hundreds of cages, guarded by more of the tall bladed creatures. Each cage was filled with humans. Humans like her.

 

And they were screaming. Some were sobbing, begging for their lives. Children, adults, men and women, all it cages, or lined up heavily guarded on the piers over the lake. Rose didn’t know where she was, or what was going on, but she knew this much- she needed to find the Doctor, and soon. Because this was not a place that Rose Tyler wanted to be stuck in for long.


	2. Chapter 2

 

* * *

 Cassie

 

 

 

We had formed a plan. Well, more like modified the old plan. I had morphed Illim, a Yeerk, and took his place in Mr. Tidwell’s head, with Illim riding along in a Ziploc bag filled with water. I sat now, using Mr. Tidwell’s body to drive his car, as a Yeerk inside of his head. The Doctor sat next to me, chattering on about his adventures before this, through all of space and time, at least in his own universe. There was so much he had seen. And so many people that he had lost. He had not actually said that, but you could here it, in his voice sometimes, as he paused to cover up a moment of intense sadness. His past must be filled with dark things, just like my friends and mine are now too.

 

There had been a brief moment, after I had acquired Illim, where Mr. Tidwell looked to the Doctor. I knew what he was hoping then.

 

“I don’t suppose you…?” Mr. Tidwell began hesitantly, looking at the Doctor.

 

“Ah, well… best not, no…”

 

The Doctor had looked a bit taken aback by the request, and I understood. This was a difficult situation and he was helping us, but to let me into his brain as Yeerk, so that Illim could stay in Mr. Tidwell’s… that was asking too much. And I while knew Mr. Tidwell knew that, his bond with Illim was strong, in a way I hadn’t realized until today. In a way that gave me hope.

 

It was that hope that I clung to as we drove to the local McDonald’s. I was grateful for the Doctor’s company, even though I had no idea if he would be as helpful as he claimed or not. And even though he was still terrified and worried, I could tell from Mr. Tidwell’s thoughts, visible to me as a Yeerk in his head, that he was starting to think that this strange man who claimed to be an alien might just be useful. Listening to him helped me ignore how much I missed my friends in this moment. I was trying to convince myself that I could do this. Without Rachel’s bravery. Without Jake’s leadership, and Marco’s wit. Without Tobias watching our backs, and Ax… I couldn’t even think about Ax right now. I just hoped we’d find a way to save him in time.

 

The Doctor was grinning as we pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot. He was a confusing person. He was excited by the idea of this mission, but not like Rachel would have been. I think it was the newness, the discovery of something he had never seen before, which had made him this happy. He certainly wasn’t afraid, despite everything I had told him about the Yeerks and what evil they were capable of doing. But maybe, that was good. Maybe we had found ourselves an ally who, finally, could help us end the fighting, instead of just delaying things until the Andalites came to our aid.

 

“Right then! Where do we begin?” The Doctor was practically bouncing with excitement as we walked towards the fast-food restaurant’s entrance.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? If they see your face, they won’t stop until they find you.” I said in Mr. Tidwell’s voice.

 

“Oh I’ve been hunted across galaxies before. Well… never quite by any one like this. Well… actually there was that one time… It’ll be fine! Allons-y!”

 

The Doctor walked ahead of me/Mr. Tidwell, in through the McDonald’s door. I followed, and went up to the register.

 

“I’ll have two Happy Meals,” I said to the cashier. “With extra happy”.

 

The cashier laughed half-heartedly, in sharp contrast to the Doctor’s genuine chuckle. She had heard the joke hundreds of times before: it was the password to the Yeerk Pool entrance. The Doctor’s genuine laughter, though, made me nervous. They needed to think he was a Controller, and so far, he wasn’t doing a very good job of acting like a cold Yeerk on their way to the pool to feed. The next step, though, was what really frightened me. I lead the way passed the bathrooms and straight back into the walk-in refrigerator in the kitchens. As we entered the cold and shut the door behind us, the wall at the back of the refrigerator slid open to reveal a passageway.

 

<Move quickly,> thought Mr. Tidwell, <Or they’ll be suspicious>.

 

I nodded, still unsure of how to communicate with the host body.

 

“Remember,” I said to the Doctor, pausing before taking a step forward, “The Gleet Biofilters are programmed to destroy any unauthorized life forms. I’m guessing Time Lord isn’t on their list, so I hope you know what you’re doing.”

 

He simply laughed, and twirled the device I had learned was called “a sonic screwdriver” in one hand. I took that to mean he was prepared, and stepped forward through the doors. At first, there was no sound, and I let out a sight of relief. Then suddenly-

 

_BRRRR-EEEEEEEEET. BRRRRR-EEEEET. Unauthorized life-form detected! BRRR-ee…eee…._

 

The noise died down almost as quickly as it began, but I could feel my heart, Mr. Tidwell’s heart, pounding. I could hear a small, whistling electronic noise behind me.

 

“Oh that was a quick response! Sorry about that.”

 

The Doctor still sounded pleased, despite the dangers ahead of us. I couldn’t figure him out, but I was glad. At least there was someone here to be brave for me. I don’t know why I trusted him… but I did. His confidence was unnerving, yes, but it didn’t seem like bravado… I didn’t know. Something, in my gut, told me that this man would be able to help. The Doctor walked forward, past me and down towards a large stairwell.

 

“I reprogrammed their DNA databases,” he continued cheerfully. “You should be able to get through in just about any morph you please now, provided no one bothers to check on the system anytime soon.”

 

“Really? How…. Thank you.”

 

I realized I wouldn’t understand his explanation, anyway. This was clearly technology beyond anything the Yeerks, or even the Andalites, had at their disposal, and it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, we could get out of here without trouble for once.

 

<His technology really is impressive.> Mr. Tidwell thought. <Be careful, Cassie. If the Yeerks find out someone like him exists, they will stop at nothing to posses his power.>

 

He was right, of course. No one knew how ruthless and cruel the Yeerks were better than a Controller; even one who’s Yeerk was part of the Peace Movement. But the Doctor’s ridiculous confidence was almost infectious, and I couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope, for the first time since that night in the construction site…

 

The happy thoughts didn’t last though. Because as we continued walking down the stairwell, I could here the noises, the shouts, the begging. Sounds that, no matter what the outcome of this mission or war was, I knew would haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life.

 

The Yeerk Pool was not a place I ever wanted to see, even with the cheerful Doctor by my side. But cheerful… was not a word that I would use to describe him now. Because it was clear that he had heard, had recognized the sounds that were waiting for us down below. His eyes were no longer bright with curiosity, but dark, as if a storm had suddenly rolled into his mind.

 

 

* * *

 

Rose Tyler

 

 

 

“Look, I’m not going to try anything? See?”

 

The pair of aliens was forcing Rose to walk towards another building, and she was trying to stay calm. It was difficult, given that she was in a giant underground cavern, surrounded by screaming, crying humans. She spun around, hands still in the air in surrender.

 

“No funny business from me. We can put the weapon down, yeah?”

 

“Quiet, human,” the giant centipede hissed, squishing along on its many sharp-looking legs.

 

“Right then,” she said, and kept walking.

 

Up ahead, she saw a group of what appeared to be humans, who were talking to a pair of the tall, bladed aliens. Maybe her own species would be a little easier to negotiate with…

 

As her alien guards led her past, she called out to them.

 

“Hey, you lot! Could you help me here? There seems to be a bit of cultural differences getting in the way, I can’t make these two understand that I ended up here completely by mistake,” Rose did a bit of shrug.

 

One of the humans, a middle age woman with mousey hair pulled back into a tight bun, looked over at them. A faint look of surprised in her eyes, she walked briskly over to Rose and her captors. She looked cross.

 

“What seems to be the issue?” the woman asked, looking back and forth from Rose to the two aliens.

 

Unwilling to let the other two speak before she could explain, Rose jumped right into an explanation.

 

“So I ended up in your storage by accident. Bit of a surprise to me too, my friend the Doctor, his ship, threw me out while we were traveling, yeah? So as soon as I find him, I’ll be out of your hair and on my way.”

 

“Do you think I’m idiot? Do you think this is funny?”

 

The lines on the woman’s face were clear now. Stress had worn her out, and she was frowning severely.

 

“Visser Three is on his way here, now, and if there is a single hair out of place, he will have all of our heads. What is your name?”

 

“Um, Rose, Rose Tyler? Like I said, completely accidental that I’m here.”

 

Rose put on her friendliest smile, hoping to diffuse the situation.

 

It didn’t work.

 

“Are you out of your mind? Have you been eating the oatmeal! What is your name, Yeerk?!”

 

The woman looked incredibly angry, but Rose thought she saw where the confusion was now.

 

“Oh, no, no. See, I’m not a Yeerk, I’m a human. From Earth. Do you know where Earth is?”

 

The woman, (Was she a Yeerk? Not a human? What was a Yeerk anyway?), looks exasperated now.

 

“Where did you find this imbecile?” she asked now, turning to the two aliens, one of which still pointed its weapon at Rose.

 

“It was in the weapons storage wing.” Grunted the taller alien.

 

The Yeerk? Woman? Human? looked alarmed now.

 

“Look, I think we just have a misunderstanding,” Rose tried again.

 

She was getting nervous, trying to stay calm, but she didn’t like how no one is listening to her.

 

“I don’t want to cause trouble, but… if my friend shows up here, you better hope he doesn’t see-“ she gestured to the screaming cages behind her- “all this, and decide to stop you-“

 

“Andalite Bandit!”

 

The woman whipped out a smaller version of the spiked alien’s weapon, and pointed it at Rose’s forehead.

 

“Why didn’t you idiots check it? Did you even think of that? There might be more around! If we’ve captured one, Visser Three will promote us all! Think of what he’ll do if we let it escape!”

 

The attitude of everyone in earshot just became incredibly tense. Two other humans (well they looked human, but now Rose was unsure) rushed over, weapons raised, and a pair of the bladed aliens practically sprinted towards her, the sharp knifelike appendages on their arms flashing. Suddenly, Rose found herself surrounded in every direction.

 

“Whoa whoa! Wait? What? Andalite? I don’t know what you’re talking about! Please, my name is Rose Tyler, and I’m a hu-“

 

“Shut your mouth, scum!”

 

The first woman, who Rose realized now must be in charge of this… cave… practically spat the words at her, and then gestured to the two men beside her.

 

“Take the Andalite bandit, and lock it up until the Visser gets here. He’ll decide what and who it really is.”

 

The woman stared directly into her eyes now, and Rose shuddered, unable to stop herself from feeling very, very afraid.

 

“If it tries to morph, kill it.”

 

“No, wait! Please, you don’t understand!”

 

Rose began to shout as her arms were pinned to her sides, and she was dragged away.

 

“Doctor, can you hear me?! Doctor! Doctor!!”

 

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

 

 

“The Yeerks…” the Doctor asked, with a frightening calm in his voice, “How many people have they managed to enslave down here?”

 

I didn’t have an answer for him. I didn’t know myself, and I knew, as we turned the corner at the bottom of the steps, he was about to see it. Just how bad the odds were, how hopeless the fight was. And how important it was that we never give up.

 

Before us, the massive cavern that contained the Yeerk Pool opened. It was large enough to contain a shopping mall, and, in the corner, I saw construction equipment. They were expanding. It made me nauseous, just thinking about it. The pool below was surrounded by cages filled with crying, screaming, begging people, Hork-Bajir and human alike. If there was a hell on Earth, this was it. Beside me, the Doctor had frozen in his tracks.

 

“Are you alright? Can you do this?” I asked, concerned.

 

We needed to keep moving. Who knows how long Aftran or Ax had? We couldn’t waste anymore time.

 

“This… this is what you’ve been fighting against? You, your friends? Children, fighting against all of this?”

 

The quiet in his voice was like the pause between lightning and thunder, and suddenly, I felt a twinge of fear. Fear of the Doctor, and what his wrath might bring. And I understood why he had felt so confident before. This man had clearly fought and seen war. And it enraged him to see this, to understand fully what the situation was.

 

“We didn’t have a choice.” I said simply.

 

“This ends,” the Doctor took a step forward, his eyes burning as he took in the sights before us. “This ends today.”

 

I didn’t dare hope that he could be right. For all of his confidence, all of his fury, I knew that the Yeerks were not something that could be easily defeated in one day. And today, I needed to save my friends, first, before I could worry about anything else.

 

“Doctor…” I began, Mr. Tidwell’s voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep him sounding calm.

 

<We need to move quickly,> Mr. Tidwell’s thoughts reminded me to focus, <We don’t know exactly when Visser Three will be here, but it will be soon.>

 

He was right. As powerful as the Doctor’s technology was, Visser Three was a force I didn’t want to deal with no matter who was on my side.

 

“We need to save Aftran, first.” I said, as much to remind myself as the Doctor. “She should be somewhere in the pool. If I go, and enter as a Yeerk, I should be able to find where they’re holding her. If you can provide a large enough distraction, I can morph something useful and find a way to get her out of here.”

 

 _Hopefully in time to save Ax, too._ I thought to myself, and headed towards the lines at the long piers.

 

One pier, where Controllers waited peacefully to release the Yeerk in their head for it’s necessary once every three days feeding. Another filled with sobbing, yelling, and sometimes even angry people, waiting for their heads to be dunked into the slime of the pool and a Yeerk to reenter, taking control of their bodies away from them once again. I made my way to the near line, and quietly took my place, trying to keep my face calm and emotionless despite the horror around me. In the corner of my eye, I saw the Doctor, his long trench coat flowing behind him, heading off towards a series of buildings down near the far end of the pool. I hoped he knew what he was doing, for all of our sakes.

 

<I hope we can trust him to do his part. Now let’s do ours.>

 

Mr. Tidwell was trying to think calmly, but I was a Yeerk wrapped around his brain, and I could easily tell that he was nervous, terrified even. I couldn’t blame him for that, though; I was too. But we had to do this.

 

As we stood in our place in the line, I watched in horror as person after person was freed from their Yeerk controller only to be dragged into the nearby cages by the Hork-Bajir guarding the lines. A young boy, screaming for his mother. A woman who didn’t say a word, but stared defiantly ahead without making a sound. A Hork-Bajir who was kicked down and dragged back by two of his own species, the Yeerks in their heads forcing them to laugh at his pain. An elderly man who struggled in the Hork-Bajir’s grip. Some had tears running down their faces. Others began to beg and scream. All of their begging was ignored, and they were each thrown callously into the cages to await their re-infestation. It took so much strength to keep the tears out of my eyes, to keep my face calm and uncaring.

 

 _Illim and Mr. Tidwell would have to do this every time they visited the pool_ I realized, and felt a surge of pity for them both.

 

There was only one person, a girl about my age, in front of me now. I rearranged Illim’s Ziploc bag in my sleeve, preparing to release him into the pool as well. I had to move quickly, once I was in the pool, to find Aftran.

 

The girl in front of me must have been a voluntary Controller, because she walked away from the pool calmly without any guards. It was my turn. I stepped forward, and bent down, ready to dunk Mr. Tidwell’s head into the pool and swim out. But then, a voice echoed in my head, commanding and terrifying.

 

<Bring the prisoners! It’s time I interrogated them both!>

 

Visser Three was here. And he said something about two prisoners! As I put my head in the water of the Yeerk Pool, I quickly released Illim. I began to detach myself from Mr. Tidwell’s brain, and then I heard the Visser’s next words, and my heart stopped.

 

<Aftran 942, the Yeerk traitor, and an Andalite bandit! Today we will put a stop to two great… annoyances… to the Yeerk Empire!>

 

I quickly reattached to the neurons in Mr. Tidwell’s brain, and forced his head up out of the water.

 

<Cassie! What are you doing?!>

 

Mr. Tidwell’s thoughts shouted out, but I ignored him. Who had they captured? Which on of us, in our sick delirium, had said something to reveal our cause? Had Tom heard Jake say something while he slept? I had to know, I had to save them!

 

I turned my head quickly to look over towards where Visser Three, in his stolen Andalite body, stood gloating at the edge of the Yeerk pool. He looked triumphant and joyous. With horror, I saw someone lift a box out of the Yeerk pool that must have contained Aftran. I started walking, quickly, down the pier and towards where they stood. But then I froze. Because coming out of nearby building, there was a young blonde girl being led by two Hork-Bajir Controllers, Dracon Beams aimed carefully at her back, towards the Visser.

 

They had Rachel.


	3. Chapter 3

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

 

 

It took every ounce of control I had in me to not start sprinting towards Rachel and Aftran. What had happened? How had they found her? Were the others safe? I couldn’t waste time, and I had to appear casual. Taking a deep breath, I walked Mr. Tidwell’s body towards the edge of the cavern. Thank goodness he was a voluntary Controller, otherwise I would have ended up in one of the cages... I began looking for a place to slip out of his body and demorph.

 

<So, my Andalite bandit… strange that you would chose such a weak, human morph to come here!>

 

Visser Three’s laugh echoed in my head. We’d have to move quickly. I didn’t want to know what he had in store for Rachel and Aftran.

 

<Ha! Don’t lie to me! I can easily put a Yeerk in your head, Andalite scum, and know exactly what you’re thinking!>

 

I struggled to think. What would Jake do? What would any of them do? I wasn’t the planner. My actions were usually motivated by feelings. My understanding of people was where my strength lay. But there was no way to use that to save Rachel or Aftran. I understood Visser Three plenty well enough. I understood that there would be no reasoning with him, only a fight. Would we survive?

 

<Mr. Tidwell, I think we’re going to need a change of plans.>

 

<What can we do now? Do you have an idea?>

 

<Yes.>

 

I was lying. I had no clue how to handle this, besides demorphing and remorphing something dangerous as fast as I could. And even that might not be enough. If Rachel were to be infested, whatever Yeerk was inside her brain would instantly be able to tell the Visser everything he would need to know to find all of my friends and family.

 

At this point, I was relying on the man who called himself the Doctor to think of something, and fast. Because all of our lives depended on this stranger who claimed to be from another time and place, and I was trying so hard not to panic about that.

 

<I have a brilliant idea!>

 

The Visser was practically crowing with excitement.

 

<Aftran 942, you have a chance to be useful to the Yeerk Empire after all! Enter the Andalite scum’s brain. I can torture you both at once, and find out everything I need to know about both the rest of the Andalite bandits’ locations, and the traitorous “Peace Movement”. And when you have told me everything this most useful body knows, I’ll rip you out of its head, and give it to a much, much more worthy Yeerk!>

 

I, well, Mr. Tidwell, opened a door near one of the buildings that I could see in Mr. Tidwell’s memories was just a storage closet for cleaning supplies. Mr. Tidwell sat down on an upside down mop bucket, and began to work my way out of his cranium to the ear canal. He tilted his head near the ground, and with Schlop! I landed on the floor. Almost as soon as I hit, I began to demorph.

 

<You need to get out of here, quickly>

 

I thought-spoke to Mr. Tidwell as my legs and arm bones began to appear. My ears popped out of the sides of the Yeerk ‘head’ while my hair sprouted from the top.

 

<This isn’t going to be pretty.>

 

“I know.”

 

The demorph was almost complete, and I looked up at him as the Yeerk mucus dissolved away into my skin with a strange, slurping sensation. He nodded at me solemnly.

 

“We better hope we were right to trust this Doctor, and that he really does know what he’s doing. Good luck to you both.”

 

I returned his nod even as I started morphing again. The others, even Ax, had always told me I had a gift for morphing, and I was never more grateful that I was right now for that. Morphing this quickly was exhausting, even for me. But there wasn’t time to worry about that now. My face began to stretch out, and my body began to bulk up as my skin turned leathery and grey. The African Elephant was not my preferred morph, but in this case, I needed as much brute strength as I could get. And besides… maybe using Rachel’s preferred battle morph would lend me some of her courage.

 

The closet was rapidly becoming too small for me, and I pushed the door open with my half-formed trunk as my ears began to spread out rapidly. Elephants have quite sensitive hearing, unsurprisingly. Unfortunately, at that moment, it meant I could hear a violent, high-pitched scream of a young woman with perfect clarity. In my panic, I thought the voice sounded wrong, but there wasn’t time to question it.

 

<You will talk, Aftran 942. You will tell me everything. And then you will die!>

 

There wasn’t much time left to save them. And I wasn’t sure that I could even do it. The morph finished, I charged.

 

"Hhhrrrreeeyyaaahhhh!"

 

“Andalite Bandit!”

 

The controllers, Visser Three, they all knew now I was here. I plowed forward, throwing human-controllers to the side as I ran. Screaming my thought speak at Rachel and Aftran, I continued my charge forward.

 

<RACHEL! AFTRAN! Hold on! I’m coming for you both!>

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

Rose Tyler

 

 

Rose had never been tortured. Been hurt, injured, yes. It was part of the hazards of traveling with the Doctor. But this was a new level of pain and fear. Her head was throbbing where the blue, centaur looking alien who called himself Visser Three had forced into the Yeerk he called Aftran into her ear. And into her brain. And Aftran, now controlled her body, Rose realized. She was no more than a puppet. But she still felt the pain when Visser Three sliced a layer of her skin off her arm with his bladed tail.

 

<You will tell me everything!>

 

Rose heard him bellow… but without speaking. Without a mouth, she had realized, he was using some sort of psychic effect to enter her brain and communicate.

 

A cry of pain escaped Rose’s mouth as the Visser Three’s cut her again, this time across her face. Then, without warning, she saw flashes of her own memories. Her journeys with the Doctor, her mother, the TARDIS all flashed inside her mind. Why? She wasn’t going to die here. Rose knew that together, she and the Doctor could work their way out of any situation. Then she realized. The Yeerk, Aftran they called her, was not only controlling her body, but could see her thoughts and memories as well.

 

<Rose Tyler.>

 

A shaking voice (thought? How did it work?) inside her head spoke.

 

<Aftran?>

 

Rose wasn’t sure how this worked. But clearly she could communicate with the alien in her head. But could they hear her? All the others? Like how the one called Visser Three seemed to be heard by all?

 

<They cannot hear your thoughts. Only I can. But Rose, we must endure this. They cannot know what you’ve seen. Or what you know. They will use it to destroy this planet, and the universe.>

 

Rose thought she could hear defeat in Aftran’s “voice”, and it scared her. But she knew she had to be strong for both of them now. Aftran may have her memories, but she didn’t know the Doctor like Rose did.

 

<There might be a way! Don’t give up yet! There has to be. The Doctor is here somewhere, and between the three of us, we’ll think of something to get out of this. Don’t you give up yet!>

 

<We cannot say anything. I’ve seen your memories… and it would be my honor to… die with someone as brave as you.>

 

Before Rose could respond, tell Aftran that there wouldn’t be any dying here today, Visser Three’s bladed tail sliced her forehead, cutting deep. Rose, Aftran, both of them, screamed in pain.

 

<You will talk, Aftran 942. And then you will die!>

 

Rose felt Aftran close her eyes, and she could see nothing.

 

<Aftran, listen to me! Don’t give up! There’s a way out of this, I know the Doctor, and I know me… we’ll survive, I promise you!>

 

"Hhhrrrreeeyyaaahhhh!"

 

Aftran opened their eyes wide open in shock, and Rose felt a surge of hope coming from the Yeerk.

 

<RACHEL! AFTRAN! Hold on! I’m coming for you both!>

 

<What is-->

 

Rose could barely get the thought out before Aftran interrupted her.

 

<Cassie! She’s come to save us! The Animorphs are here!>

 

<Who?>

 

<ANDALITE FILTH!!>

 

Another loud noise trumpeted into the air… an elephant? Rose was confused, but Aftran’s sudden surge of hope was contagious. And Rose could see that Visser Three looked almost… nervous, despite having no mouth. Whatever, whoever had made that noise had made him afraid. Aftran turned her head, and they saw an elephant was in fact stampeding towards them, flinging humans aside with its trunk and tusks. Maybe they were-

 

<YOU WILL STOP OR THEY WILL DIE!>

 

Rose froze. Faster than she could see, Visser Three’s tail blade had whipped around, and was pressed against her throat. From the blood pouring down the other wounds he had inflicted, she could tell exactly how deadly it would be if he so much as twitched it forward.

 

<SURRENDER, OR YOUR FELLOW BANDIT’S HEAD WILL ROLL!>

 

The elephant (an Andalite? Or an Animorph? What was the difference?) came to a halt a ways away from them.

 

<Aftran… I know you can’t respond. The girl, I don’t know who she is… But I don’t want to see her die. I have help, a man who calls himself the Doctor… he might be able to save us. But if not... I don’t know what to do… I’m sorry…>

 

<The Doctor is here?!>

 

Rose felt a surge of relief. If she were in control of her own body, she would have smiled, even with the bladed tail still pressed against her throat.

 

<Course he’s not getting here til the last second. I’m going to kill him when we get out this.>

 

<From what I’ve seen of your memories of the Doctor… Rose, we might have a chance. I hope he doesn’t underestimate the Visser…>

 

<Aftran, I have a feeling that the Visser is about to underestimate him.>

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

The Doctor

 

Yeerk security was remarkably easy to get through. The Doctor supposed they weren’t suspecting someone who looked human to walk around like they knew what they were doing. A quick sonic from the screwdriver got him right where he wanted to be.

 

In a control room above the pool, The Doctor could see the scene below easily. Aliens he thought might be those tree guardians from… whatever that planet was… surrounded an African elephant, which he assumed was the Animorph Cassie.

 

“Fascinating, that they exist in this universe too. Wonder why them and not others that I recognize… I suppose that’s not quite important.”

 

What was important was the alien who called himself Visser Three currently had a very sharp looking tail pressed against Rose’s throat. The Doctor got to work.

 

“Well then, you’re making a rather bad first impression on me, uh, Visser Three, was it?”

 

His quick adjustment with the sonic screwdriver had allowed him to echo his voice over loudspeakers throughout the cavern easily. The Doctor saw the blue-furred alien with no mouth (How did he eat? Oh, that is fascinating) flinch upon hearing him.

 

<WHO DARES?! WHO DARES ADDRESS ME IN A SUCH A WAY?!>

 

“Introductions are in order I suppose, I’m the Doctor, and that is my friend Rose Tyler you have down there. Which is making you look very, very bad in my eyes.”

 

The Doctor’s voice was not harsh, but it was certainly threatening. Anger echoed through every syllable, despite his tone being fairly cheerful. He hoped this would be resolved peacefully, but every second he surveyed the scene below him, the victims of the Yeerks held in cages, begging and crying, only made him more enraged.

 

<What kind of coward makes such weak threats without showing himself!? Surrender, or I’ll separate this “Rose Tyler’s” head from her body!>

 

“Ah, well, I don’t think you will. Because you see, I am very, very clever. And I’ve figure out how to control most of the technology you’ve got running this little enterprise you’ve built for yourselves down here.”

 

It was not an idle threat. A quick scan of the computers had told the Doctor everything he could possibly want to know about the Yeerk’s technology and how it worked. A quick adjustment with his screwdriver and the lights around the cavern began to flicker as a demonstration. First one area dim then brighten. Then the Doctor did the same for 3 more areas around the pool.

 

<Someone find this scum! Quickly!>

 

The Visser, whoever he was, did not sound particularly calm at this point, and the Doctor knew his point had been made. Then, he heard Cassie’s voice in his head.

 

<Doctor, wherever you are, be careful! Visser Three may prefer to catch us alive, but he’ll settle for having us killed if he thinks he has no other choice!>

 

Oh, the Doctor knew that. From the moment he set eyes on this place, he knew that the people running it had no problems sacrificing their pawns to achieve their goals. However, in his experience, the Doctor knew that the people who will sacrifice their pawns so easily usually don’t feel quite the same about sacrificing themselves.

 

“Right, well then. Now that I’ve made my point clear… ”

 

His amplified voice echoed through the caverns again. The Visser was not happy, he could see, but both Rose and Cassie appeared to be just fine for now.

 

“Here is what is going to happen. You are going to let my friend Rose go. And the Yeerk in her head. And that elephant as well. This is your one warning. You are going to let us walk out of here. And then you are going to tell the…”

 

In his scan of the computers, he had seen a lot of things about the Yeerks and their Empire. Which meant the Doctor knew exactly what threats to make.

 

“…Council of Thirteen, is it? Your bosses? Tell them that the Yeerk Empire ends today. No more slaves. No more war. You are to leave this planet peacefully, and all the other planets you have enslaved as well.”

 

The Visser’s laugh rang out. The laugh of trapped person who had no idea just how outmatched he was.

 

<What makes you think I would ever even consider such a ridiculous demand! I have all the power here!>

 

The Doctor did not laugh. His voice had lost all of its fake cheerfulness now.

 

“Because I am the Doctor, of the planet Gallifrey, last of the Time Lords, and the nightmare that has haunted the dreams of empires far greater than yours for over 900 years. And if you do not let my friends and I go, I will send a signal to your leaders myself. Telling them I have destroyed your Kandrona sources for this planet. I will be very convincing.”

 

He paused, allowing his words to sink in.

 

“I don’t need to sacrifice hundreds of your people. Given your previous failures on this planet, I imagine they will believe the message, and be quite angry with you for that. They’re already quite angry, you see. I’m not sure they will wait to find out the truth for themselves.”

 

It was plain on the Visser’s face that he had realized The Doctor’s threats were not idle.

 

“The Yeerk Empire’s reign of terror through this universe ends today. Or it will learn what hundreds of empires before them have learned- I am not a force you can withstand.”

 

The tension in the air… it was like electricity. No one moved. No one so much as twitched. The Doctor could feel the rage emanating from Visser Three… and the fear. He knew for sure then, what he had expected was true: that there would be more of fight after this, once his friends were safe. The Visser would not hold up the entire end of this bargain. For now thought, Rose and Cassie were the priority.

 

Visser Three lowered his tail blade.

 

<Andalite scum… Get out of my sight…>

 

The Doctor saw Rose begin to walk towards the elephant that was Cassie. She was moving slowly, clearly still unsure if she would truly be allowed to escape. The crowd parted around her, afraid to accidentally harm her and bring wrath down upon them. The Doctor felt that it was perhaps the Visser Three’s wrath, and not his own, that they were more afraid of incurring. He would have to remember that.

 

He saw the elephant bend down and manage to get low enough that Rose was able to gingerly climb up and sit astride its back. Cassie then cautiously began to walk towards a stairwell at the far side of the cavern.

 

“Right. Rose Tyler, I will meet you on the surface. And Visser-“

 

<I will destroy you, whoever you may claim to be. This is not your victory. You will regret this d->

 

“Right, right. I’ve heard it all before. In the meantime, however, you should know I’ve sent out a mild interference signal in the area. Your security systems for the pool are all down. Security cameras, hunter robots, bio filters, all of it.”

 

The Doctor did one last tweak with his screwdriver and large image was projected on the farthest wall of the cavern. It showed a clock, counting down from 2 minutes.

 

“When I have left here, I will turn off the countdown for the self-destruct I just activated. If I don’t make it out, well…”

 

He left that part hanging. It was a bluff, of course, the Doctor would never blow the place up with that many innocents held here. But he knew it was not a risk the Yeerks would be willing to take.

 

“And Visser… I’ll be watching.”

 

He knew that Visser Three would not hold up the entirety of the bargain. But judging by the fear in his eyes, the Doctor knew he left an impression the Yeerks would not soon forget. And that alone might be enough to bring about an end to this conflict.

 

One last look out the windows told the Doctor that Rose and Cassie were making their way up the stairs without trouble. He noticed that though Cassie was slowly making herself much smaller, she was still unrecognizable as a human. The Doctor flipped his sonic screwdriver in his hands, and tucked it safely in his pocket. With that, he made his way out of the control room, ready to make his way out of there and see Rose Tyler safe and sound again.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

 

“We’ve got to hurry,” Aftran said through Rose’s voice. Another British accent, apparently.

 

“Visser Three’s patience will not last for long.”

 

<Yes, I know. And my friend Ax is sick. I need to get back to him as quickly as possible, before he…>

 

My words trailed off. We were climbing the stairs out of the Yeerk pool. We were getting out… and now I would have to find a way to save Ax before the gland in his head burst and killed him. If it hadn’t already. There had to be a way. We had just escaped a Yeerk pool without injury; save for a few deep cuts on Rose that I was now able to see with human eyes.

 

I finished my morph back in to my human body, and turned to Rose Tyler’s body, with Aftran inside.

 

“Rose, Aftran, would you like me to bandage those wounds? I can tear something of your clothes and make something-“

 

“Rose and I both agree that it’s best we get out of this place first.”

 

I thought that might a good answer. I was in quite a hurry to get out of there too. We reached the top of the steps, and open the door. We walked through the refrigerator, and true to the Doctor’s word, no alarm sounded.

 

“You should pull your hood over your head. Cover the cuts as best you can. People will look at us strangely if they see you bleeding everywhere”

 

Aftran (or Rose?) nodded. She pulled the hood of her jacket around her face as best she could, and we walked out into the fast food restaurant. And out the door, still walking. No one even looked up to see who we were.

 

I had never walked out of a Yeerk pool before. It was… unsettling, as we stood in the parking lot. I didn’t know how to react. We would have to leave, but Rose couldn’t morph, so it looked like walking was our only choice. Or running. Ax didn’t have much time.

 

“Thank you,” said Rose/Aftran. “From both of us. We were in quite a bit of trouble back there.”

 

“Now, Rose Tyler, did you ever doubt I would come and save the day?”

 

Behind us, the Doctor had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Rose looked overjoyed, and threw her arms around him. I silently thanked Aftran for allowing the girl to have control of her body back.

 

“Doctor!”

 

He smiled, and hugged her back so warmly. It felt good, seeing them reunited. They cared for each other very deeply, that much was obvious. Rose then took a step back, and looked angry, but I could tell it was not too serious.

 

“What the took you so long, huh? Cutting it awful bloody close down there!”

 

She smiled though, and I knew she was just happy to see him. But I needed to interrupt. Because Ax’s clock was still ticking.

 

“Thank you, Doctor, for all your help, but I need to go save my friend. If there’s anyway I can return the favor, please let me know. You can find me through Mr. Tidwell. He knows me. Aftran, can you-“

 

“Right!” the Doctor said cheerfully. “We don’t have much time. Well, actually, we have lots of time. Well, we don’t have much time, but we can go get more time.”

 

I was confused, and my face must have shown it, because the Doctor and Rose both smiled then.

 

“Didn’t I tell you I have a time machine?”

 

The Doctor grinned, and I realized what he was telling me. We could go to before Ax’s fever reaches the maximum temperature. And be ready to perform the surgery when it did. A huge swell of relief rolled over me. Ax would survive. We could do this. Find him at a moment when his illness was not dangerous, and have Aftran go in and find the information we need… Or ask Ax himself before the illness even set in! We could do this! We could save everyone.

 

“Let’s go,” said Rose. “Where did you leave the TARDIS this time?”

 

“Not far, Rose Tyler!”

 

The Doctor smiled at her, and I could see relief written all over his face. He walked up to a car in the parking lot, and pointed his… screwdriver (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to calling it that) at it, unlocking the doors and starting the engine. He opened the door and Rose slid into the driver’s seat. I followed, and opened the door to the backseat, and climbed in.

 

“You look a bit young to have your license, yeah?” said Rose, “So I figure I better drive.”

 

The Doctor slid himself across the hood of the car, and opened the passenger door. Sitting down, he closed the door beside him, and looked positively gleeful.

 

“Allons-y Rose Tyler. I’ll give directions as we go! The TARDIS is waiting.”

 

It was as Rose pulled out of the parking lot that it hit me. I nearly stopped breathing.

 

He had a time machine. The Doctor had a time machine. We could fix everything. All the lives lost, all the years of war and suffering that Earth has been facing… we could undo it all. This was our chance to make sure that this war ended quickly and peaceful. I was afraid to even think it, let alone say it out loud until I was sure. But for the first time since the Andalite Prince Elfangor landed in the construction site, I felt like we could actually win this war.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

* * *

 

Rose Tyler

 

 

<Rose, you’re in this universe's version of the United States of America>, Aftran said inside of her head, <They drive on the other side of the road.>

 

“Oops,” Rose laughed, and adjusted the car, “Now would be a real bad time to be pulled over by the cops, I s’pose, yeah?”

 

“Yes,” said Cassie from the backseat. “The Yeerks have infiltrated most levels of government, including the police force. I’m guessing by now they’re looking for us- well, for you, Rose. You’re the only one who’s face they’ve seen.”

 

Next to her, the Doctor gestured to make a turn, and Rose followed the traffic to the left. Despite the horrors she had just witnessed, Rose felt fairly calm. Now that the Doctor was back by her side, she figured it was nothing the two (well, four, with Cassie and Aftran) of them couldn't set right. Even the cuts that the alien Visser Three had left had stopped bleeding and stung a bit less now. In her head, she heard Aftran… shift… if that made sense, to get her attention. The situation was a bit weird, even compared to the things she’s experienced with the Doctor. Like that time Cassandra took over her body, but even more invasive. At least Trampoline Face couldn’t read her thoughts…

 

<I’m sorry, Rose. I’m trying to avoid seeing as much as I can.>

 

Rose realized that Aftran felt guilty, and that she would definitely have heard those less-than-positive comparisons in her thoughts.

 

<No, no it’s alright! I understand you didn’t ask for this!>

 

Now Rose felt guilty. Both of them were unsure of how to handle this. Next to her, the Doctor was almost giddy. Or seemed that way. Rose knew he was still very troubled by what they had seen down in the Yeerk Pool, and frankly, it freaked her out a bit too.

 

In the rearview mirror, she noticed the young black girl shift uncomfortably. The girl, (“Cassie,” Aftran gently reminded her) couldn’t have been more than 16. Three years younger than Rose when she first met the Doctor, and it was very clear that this teenager was fighting in a very dangerous war. Which reminded her…

 

“So, Cassie,” Rose began cheerfully as she could manage, “How is it you can turn into an elephant like that? Are you an alien? I mean, you look human, but so does this bloke and he’s anything but, yeah?”

 

“Um, no. I’m human,” Cassie looked nervous, and Rose thought perhaps she was not used to explaining her situation.

 

“…From Earth. I just use alien morphing technology, invented by the Andalites, who fight the Yeerks that we just escaped from. It, um, lets me change my shape into any animal whose DNA I can acquire through physical contact. ”

 

Cassie explained, but Rose knew from her own experiences that she understood just as much about how this “morphing technology” worked as Rose did the inner workings of the TARDIS. Cassie continued to do her best to, however.

 

“It’s our only tool to fight them. They’ve been using stealth to take over as much of the Earth as they can, and there’s no way of knowing who is on their side, so we can’t trust anyone, or let them know who we are.”

 

“You trusted me fairly quickly, given the situation,” the Doctor said, and Rose smiled, knowing sooner rather than later he would open his mouth.

 

At his comment, however, Cassie almost looked a bit… troubled? Ashamed? Rose couldn’t quite figure it out.

 

“I, uh, wasn’t sure if I could,” Cassie began, awkwardly, before the Doctor interrupted.

 

“But you did. Despite the risks. Why?”

 

The girl sighed, and looked down.

 

“I don’t know. I just had… a feeling about it. Most Controllers would have reacted much differently to seeing that situation. You… seemed like a trustworthy person.”

 

Rose had to laugh at that.

 

“Really? He looked trustworthy to you?”

 

Rose smiled, and the Doctor looked a tad indignant.

 

“Rose Tyler! I happen to be a very, responsible, trustworthy- Well, fine, maybe not always, but I don’t lie all the time… well, I do the stretch the truth a bit and – oh stop that already!”

 

He looked a bit put out. Rose had begun laughing again at the word ‘responsible’ and had not stopped since.

 

“Yeah, says the man who carries around the psychic paper in his front pocket.”

 

“Oh well sure! Make me look bad in front of the guests, I see how it is!”

 

“It was a stupid risk,” Cassie continues, clearly not cheered by the joking time-travelers in the front of the car, “And I’m sure when my friends find out about it, they’re going to be pretty upset with me.”

 

For just a moment, Rose felt Aftran take control again.

 

“Cassie, your gut feelings have served you exceptionally well in the past. Remember it was just such a feeling that told you to trust me, and in turn, secured my trust and the girl Karen’s freedom. I am positive the Animorphs will understand, particularly since the situation has worked out favorably.”

 

Rose’s voice paused, and she felt Aftran give a slight smile with her mouth.

 

“And while I have done my best to respect Rose’s privacy, I have seen enough of her memories and past to vouch for both her and the Doctor’s… trustworthiness.”

 

Cassie gave the slightest of smiles. It was clear she felt some relieve at Aftran’s words.

 

“Thank you, Aftran”

 

Rose felt Aftran gently let go of control of her speech, and then made another turn where the Doctor pointed. The car was now in a small neighborhood, houses mostly dark in the evening dim. Rose gave a slight shudder.

 

<Ugh, Aftran. I know you’re being real polite in there, but that does take a bit of getting used to.>

 

<I apologize. I felt Cassie needed to hear that from me.>

 

<Sorry, yeah, you’re right. It’s a bit awkward for both of us.>

 

Beneath a street lamp far up ahead, she thought she could just make out a familiar blue box in the glow.

 

“That reminds me!” the Doctor exclaimed, clearly excited to soon be reunited with his ship.

 

“Aftran, while I was in the Yeerk systems, I worked out how to make a basic Kandrona emitter, since we were there to rescue you and all. I’ll be able to rig up something basic for you, if you wouldn’t mind climbing out of Rose’s head for me.”

 

Rose could feel Aftran’s initial shock, then joy, and part of it radiated out to her own facial expressions. The Yeerk had no words. In the back, Cassie let out a small gasp as well.

 

“Well, I’d say she’d be delighted, Doctor, if I had to guess,” said Rose, grinning. “Although I don’t quite know what ‘Kandrona’ is, Aftran clearly does.”

 

“Kandrona Particle/Wave Emitter,” the Doctor explained, his tone becoming more serious and “scientific”, “Mimics the radiation produced by the Yeerk home world sun, allowing them to obtain vital nutrients off-world by directing it’s energy towards a body of water and creating the particles needed for the Yeerks to feed.”

 

Cassie added, “That’s what the Yeerk Pool is for. If they don’t exit their host body every three days or so to feed, the Yeerks will starve to death.”

 

Her voice was clearly relieved, and Rose realized that Cassie hadn’t been sure how to keep Aftran alive once she got her out of that place.

 

<I… I’ll live…>

 

Aftran's thoughts echoed in her head, and Rose laughed.

 

<Well yeah you can live. We weren’t about to leave you shriveled up on the sidewalk or nothing.>

 

Rose pulled the car up to the curb next to the TARDIS, and turned off the engine. Inside her head the Yeerk was practically glowing. Actually, now that she looked, both Cassie and the Doctor looked pretty pleased as well. The four of them got out of the car, and Rose smiled, waiting for what she knew was coming next.

 

“Is… is that your ship?” Cassie looked puzzled. “There’s probably a better choice holograms for it while you’re here, we don’t use blue, well, any, telephone boxes around here.”

 

“It’s not a hologram!” said the Doctor, a bit offended. “It’s a police box!”

 

Cassie still looked quite confused, even as he walked up to the door and grinned.

 

“The TARDIS is the most magnificent ship in any universe!”

 

He pulled the TARDIS open, and Cassie looks surprised. Laughing now, Rose walked inside, followed by the Doctor, who called behind them out the door to Cassie.

 

“Come on in!”

 

The young girl clearly had not seen what’s waiting for her yet, because Rose heard her briefly say something about it being a bit tight for space. In her head, Aftran was full of wonder, barely restraining herself from taking control of Rose’s eyes to get a better look for herself.

 

<It’s better in person,> Aftran remarked. Rose smiled and began to comment, when the TARDIS door slammed shut.

 

“Oh now!” said the Doctor, “Come on, be nice! Cassie is a friend!”

 

Rose was confused. The TARDIS had never, since she had arrived at least, refused a passenger before. The Doctor continued to plead with the ship as a frustrated parent would with a child throwing a tantrum. The interior lights even flashed, and Rose almost swore she heard a bit of a whine to the machinery.

 

“I promised her I would help! We keep our promises!”

 

The Doctor jiggled the door handle, but it refused to open.

 

“Don’t. Be. So. Silly.”

 

With one last firm tug, the door swung open.

 

“There, you see? It’s fine! Come on in!”

 

The Doctor smiled and extended his arm to hold the door as Cassie walked in and gasped.

 

“Wow. It’s… how is it… bigger? On the inside? Or is it just…”

 

The girl clearly didn’t know what to make of what she saw before her, and Rose knew the Doctor loved every second of it. He walked dramatically around the center consol, touching bits of the machinery as he did. Cassie continued to look up in awe.

 

“This is a space ship?”

 

“Oh yeah,” The Doctor grinned, and even Rose couldn’t help but smile. His joy was infectious.

 

“ _And_ a time machine…?”

 

“It’s the TARDIS. Time And Relat-“

 

“Yeah, yeah, save the show for later,” Rose teased, interrupting him. “She knows it a space ship, she knows it’s a time machine, now let’s go save her friend, yeah?”

 

She laughed as the Doctor gave her a disappointed look.

 

“Rose Tyler, you know how patiently I’ve been waiting to give that speech to someone new who’ll appreciate it. Seriously, the opportunity does not come around-“

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Boys and their toys.”

 

The Doctor sighed dramatically, but Rose knew he wasn’t really all that annoyed. The look on Cassie’s face alone had him excited. She was still bothered, though, at the TARDIS’s behavior. The ship was “alive” in its own way, so far as Rose had been able to tell, but she couldn’t remember it ever showing outright hostility towards a person before….

 

“So, Cassie!” The Doctor began, “Normally, I’d do some grandiose speech about all of time and space and where do you want to go and what not-“

 

“And he still wants to give the speech, believe me,” Rose laughed, interrupting again.

 

“Buuut,” The Doctor continued, despite her joking still looking quite excited, “I think under the circumstances, I know exactly when you what to go. So, Cassie the Animorph,”

 

The Doctor paused again, for dramatic effect, and Rose just smiled, letting him have his moment.

 

“Here’s what we’re going to do.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

 

I was still quite unsure what I was expecting to happen when I chose to trust this alien who introduced himself as the Doctor- although, now that I had time to stop and think now… Doctor Who? Was it just a title, his actual name? Rose called him Doctor… so maybe it was just what he went by? He was an alien, after all. The Doctor was no stranger a name for an alien than Aximili or Elfangor or Aftran, really.

 

But still… whatever I was expecting then, this wasn’t it. The “ship”, the Tardis, was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Bigger on the inside… and could travel through time. Even despite my shock, I did notice how… attached… the Doctor was to it. He treated it less like a spaceship and more like a favorite child, or an old friend. Definitely an old machine, at the vary least. I could have sworn some parts of the railings were held on with duct tape…

 

It was also clear that he and Rose were very close. It sort of reminded me of Jake and I, but the two of them had a different level of comfort and familiarity that was really quite sweet; especially when I reminded myself that they were technically two different species… But I would have time to try and figure all this out later. For now, the Doctor explained to me his plan to save Ax.

 

“Now, obviously the simplest way would be to just ask your friend… Ax, was it? The Andalite?” The Doctor paused until I nodded to confirm, then “Yes, asking him outright about the proper way to perform the surgery needed to save him would be simplest, but I don’t think it’s our best option, given the unpredictability of time travel in an unfamiliar universe, and the difficulty of finding a time when he is lucid enough to explain. However-“

 

The Doctor grinned and Rose rolled her eyes like she had seen this all a hundred times before. She probably had. For me, though, it was all new and very confusing. Time travel was not a concept I understood anything about.

 

“What I need from you is the exact time and place you last saw your friend.”

 

“7:23 pm, my family’s barn, outside of town a bit.”

 

The Doctor hit some buttons, and a map of our city appeared on a display screen. I pointed to the exact location.

 

“His temperature was 91.9, and the Tria Gland will reach a crisis point and must removed from his brain at 91.3 degrees. There’s no pattern to how the temperature falls, unfortunately.”

 

My voice sounded much calmer than I felt. I knew medical procedure, sure, but knowing how to splint a broken wing on a crow or force a pill down a scared fox’s throat were nothing compared to brain surgery on friend who happened to be an alien species. And so far, the Doctor had given no indication that he or Rose knew anymore about medicine, alien or otherwise, than I did.

 

“The TARDIS should be able to get us close enough to that time and place. So then! What I need from you, Aftran,” He turned, and pointed at Rose/Aftran, a dramatic side clearly showing again, “is a very big favor for the people who just saved your life.”

 

“I understand, Doctor,” said Aftran with Rose’s voice. “I should be able to enter the Andalite’s brain and provide Cassie with all the information she needs. However, I must warn you that it is unlikely that the Andalite will consent to this willingly. His people are proud and have a long-standing hatred of the Yeerks. He may find death preferable to my aid.”

 

“Oh save me from stupid alien prejudices making everything more difficult. He’ll just have to learn to live with having his life saved.”

 

The Doctor rolled his eyes and looked more than a bit scornful at her words, and Rose gave a reprimanding look. Aftran was probably right, though. If Ax were conscious, he’d never allow Aftran near his brain. However…

 

“It’s very unlikely that Ax will be lucid enough to protest,” I said, “When I last saw him, he was completely unaware of what was going on around him due to the fever.”

 

I tried not to sound as worried as I felt. Truthfully, I had no idea what kind of shape Ax might be when we got to him. And I had no idea how to explain any of this to Erek. Even though he was Chee, an android that had been around probably since before humans discovered fire, I had the feeling that time-travel was something that even he hadn’t experienced. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure I would even believe it was possible, if I hadn’t already seen everything else the Doctor had done today.

 

“Right then!”

 

The Doctor’s eyes were gleaming wildly as he flipped some switches and knobs around the giant center consol. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a smiling Rose reach over and grab onto some of the rusted looking rails around the consol, bracing herself a bit.

 

“Try not to fall out again, Rose Tyler!”

 

“Oh, like it was my fa-“

 

“VWOOOOORP! VWOOOOOORP! VWOOOOOOORP!”

 

The Doctor pulled a giant lever and a loud, strange noise completely interrupted whatever Rose was trying to say. The entire ship began to rattle and shake around me, nearly knocking me off my feet. In the midst of all this commotion, I saw the Doctor grin madly and shout.

 

“OH YES! Let’s go save an Andalite!”

 


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

 

Cassie

 

Before I could event regain my balance or even think of asking what was going on the ship sort of… settled? It was strange. The loud noises and shaking stopped just as suddenly as they started. I looked around, and nothing inside the ship appeared to have changed at all, even with all the rattling, and there was no way to look outside to see if we had even moved. Although Rose and the Doctor seemed convinced that all had gone quite smoothly.

 

“First time is always the worst,” Rose turned to me and said cheerfully, “He drives like a bit of madman, this one.”

 

The Doctor looked indignant, and I laughed.

 

“Rose Tyler! I’ll have you kno-“

 

“He’s actually better than Marco,” I said, laughing, “So long as you didn’t hit any trash cans, Doctor.”

 

“Your rubbish bins are save from me- Now!” The Doctor looked excited as he darted over to the door of the Tardis.

 

He was so strange… so very childlike and old at the same time. It must be fun for him, surprising people with his spaceship-time machine. I suppose it must be something that never gets old for him… and Rose looked just as excited. They both were staring at me, expectantly, so I went to the door and opened it.

 

My jaw almost dropped. In just those few moments of violent shaking, the ship must have traveled faster than anything the Yeerks or Andalites have built… because I was standing in the pasture where my family let our horses out to graze. A little further ahead, I could see our barn, where my parents ran the “Wildlife Rehabilitation Center”, and where my friends Erik and Ax would be waiting. The sky was dark, though, and that worried me. The sun had only been starting to set when I initially set off to Mr. Tidwell’s house…

 

Behind me, I heard the door to the… tardis?... creak shut, and turned to see Rose and the Doctor standing in front of what once again appeared to be a normal, if out of place in a field by the woods, blue telephone box.

 

“So… when… are we?” I asked hesitantly. The dark, starry sky had me worried.

 

“Well, I was aiming for a half hour after you said you left, so, if all went according to plan, it should be precisely 7:53 pm. Though it felt like we might have hit a small bump in the Time Vortex, so we could be slightly late or early by a bit. Nothing too dramatic of course… well, I’m pretty sure we’re in the same year, at least. The TARDIS doesn’t seem to moving quite as well in this universe…”

 

_Late…._ I looked up at the starry sky again, as the Doctor began another rambling speech. We could not afford to be too late. I mean, time machine or not, I didn’t want to take too many more risks tonight. If Ax’s temperature had gotten too close to the crisis point, it would be unsafe for Aftran to enter his head and find the information… or worse…

“I… I think we better hurry…” I said, and set off quickly towards my family’s barn, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. We took care of pretty much any local animals people brought to us there, but Ax was the first alien I had ever treated. Even with Aftran’s help, I wasn’t sure I could do it.

 

I couldn’t afford to think like that right now, though. Tonight had already been a night for impossible things to happen, so maybe I could pull off one more. I pushed the thoughts out of my head, and practically sprinted thought the barn door over to the stall where Ax was being hidden by Erik’s hologram.

 

“Erik, what time is it? Where is the fev-“ I froze and gasped at the sight of Ax. He lay completely on his side, legs curled up beside him. His eyes were shut. Clearly unconscious, his breaths had become short and ragged. I knelt beside him and placed my hand on his blue-furred forehead. Something I remember my mother doing for me when I was sick.

 

Erik spoke up then, sounding nervous, “We have company. A man and woman just followed you into the barn. They’re heading-“

 

I head the whistling whirr of the Doctor’s screwdriver, and suddenly, Erik’s hologram turned of, revealing his strange, metallic, yet Snoopy-like actual form. If an android could look surprised, I would have sworn Erik did then.

 

“They’re friends-“ I began, as the Doctor opened the door of the stall and both he and Rose peered in. Rose was the first to notice Ax on the ground beside me, and she quickly came and knelt next to him as well.

 

“This is your friend? How can we help? Should we move him? Somewhere cleaner, yeah, if there’s surgery involved?”

 

Without speaking, Erik bend down, and gently scooped the weak, unconscious Andalite body into his arms. His strength was impressive, even to me. He walked out of the stall, and up to the Doctor.

 

“If you could turn my holograms back on, please,” Erik said pleasantly, “We don’t want anyone to know what’s going on, and I can cloak the entire operating room sufficiently if they are functioning.”

 

“Oh right!”

 

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at Erik, who immediately looked like the same “normal” teenage boy he appeared as a minute ago. The Doctor was clearly impressed, and very obviously curious. He was practically twitching and his grin was growing wider by the second. Any other time, I would have laughed. But we didn’t have time to explain everything with Ax in this condition… The Doctor opened his mouth, clearly ready to go a question-asking marathon. Thankfully, Rose interrupted. Or rather, Aftran did.

 

“He appears to have reached his crisis point…”

 

“Yes,” I reply slowly. There was no way I could ask her to do this now… maybe there was another-

 

“Cassie, I will still enter the Andalite’s brain. You have saved me from a slow and tortuous death, and now the Doctor has found a way to keep me from starving. It is the very least I can do.”

 

Even though I knew Aftran was probably not to control Rose’s body as much as possible, there was a determined look on the blonde’s face now, and I was reminded again of Rachel. I smiled, feeling just a little bit more confident.

 

“Thank you, Aftran,” I said, my voice cracking a bit. I tried to sound a gracious as I could in spite of the building nervousness, “Rose if you could, uh, come with me to the operating room for a moment, so we can… uh… trade heads?”

 

“Of course. Doctor, stay out here!”

 

“What, why?” He looked disappointed.

 

“Because you’ll just run around gawking at the android and asking questions, that’s why. Let her save her friend first, don’t be rude!”

 

Rose... I wondered how she had gotten involved in the Doctor’s travels. I was so glad to have her here. Though she may not understand medicine or any of this time-travel stuff, she knew how to handle the Doctor, and I could already see that that was quite the talent, too. She followed me into operating room, where Erik as already waiting, having laid out some sanitation supplies and tools we… I was going to need.

 

“So you’re like, an android?” asked Rose cheerfully, clearly trying to lighten the mood. She held out her hand to shake Erik’s, and to his credit, Erik returned the handshake just as cheerfully.

  
“Yes, m’am. I’m Erek, a Chee android. You seem like you’re pretty unusual human, Miss…?”

 

I stood at the back sink, scrubbing my hands in preparation for the surgery. When they were clean, I pulled on a pair of latex gloves. Even though we probably didn’t have time for this kind of casual talk, I was grateful for any delay to cutting into my friend’s skull.

 

“Rose Tyler, nice to meet you. And the Yeerk, Aftran, in my head, she says hello as well.”

 

Erek was clearly surprised, and looked over at me. I nodded.

 

“Strange friends you’ve picked up here, Cassie,” Erik said, chuckling, “A human who’s not afraid of Yeerks, and what appears to be a fairly old alien…”

 

“Yeah, it’s been a strange day,” I said quickly, too busy looking over the tools and running down the lists of things I might need to respond properly. I couldn’t keep stalling though. I took one last look at Ax’s unconscious form, and took a deep breath.

 

“Rose, could you lean your head over the table near Ax’s ear here,” I directed. “Once Aftran is out, please go wait with the Doctor” (another confused look from Erik there) “And Erik, Aftran, and I should be able to handle the rest.”

 

With a nod, Rose did as I asked. With a SCHLOP! Aftran landed on the counter next to the unconscious Ax, and then began wiggling her way into his brain through his ear canal. Rose, meanwhile, rubbed her ear and looked on a bit.

 

“That really is unsettling, her doing all that…”

 

She shuddered, and walked towards the door. But before she opened it, I saw her pause, and then turn back to look at me. Her steady gaze made me feel just a bit calmer.

 

“You can do this, Cassie. The Doctor knows it, and so do I. He only allows truly remarkable people to travel with him, and you, well, you’re definitely one of the best, “

 

Rose grinned, and I couldn’t help but smile back at little bit despite my nerves.

 

“So go on now! Go save your friend!”

 

I took a deep breath, and turned to Ax’s head. Erek stood at the ready, cotton balls and bottles of alcohol in hand, and ready to sanitize wherever Aftran told me to cut.

 

<Cassie? I think I’ve found it…>

 

 

 

* * *

 

The Doctor

 

The Doctor had decided to take a seat on top of one of the large bales of hay that were stacked through the barn. With his back to the operating room, he leaned against the wall, and put up his feet, taking in the full glory of what Cassie had called the Wildlife Rehabilitation clinic earlier. Around him were as many cages of varying sizes as could fit on the walls and floor space, most containing a various species of animal. They were all in different stages of recovery, and all appeared to be from Earth. The Doctor smiled. Caring for all sorts of different species besides one’s own was something he could appreciate, and it made him happy to see humans so dedicated to that cause when they had so many other things to worry about too.

 

A raccoon lifted its head and stared groggily as the door to the operating room creaked open. The Doctor shifted his weight a bit as Rose came out and promptly sat down next to him. She fiddled with a lose strand of her hair before pushing it behind her ear and looking up into his eyes.

 

“This is… mad, yeah? I mean, Cassie’s just a kid.”

 

“Well, she’s a pretty remarkable person. It’s not unheard of for young people to be able to do these things...”

 

Rose sighed, and furrowed her brow.

 

“Yeah, but like, she’s a soldier, too. Fighting a war no one here even knows is happening. She’s too young for this… it’s not right.”

 

Be child soldiers have been used across the galaxy for millennia, it’s not really a radical concept. Statistically speakin-“

 

“Oh shut it. These are _human kids_. Whatever time we are in this universe, it clearly isn’t too far from where I was. Where Mum still is. And here there this girl, and she’s and her friends are fighting all-“

 

“Rose-”

 

“By themselves! No one knows that the Earth is being invaded, and that people are being tortured and dying down below their cities! And these kids what can’t even drive a car are-“

 

“Rose…”

 

“What I’m saying is, we’re going to fix this, yeah? We can’t leave them like this, not now that we know what they’re up against.”

 

The Doctor sighed, and looked up at the rafters. He agreed with Rose, of course. But things were definitely complicated here. More complicated than he would have predicted. And not because of the Yeerks. The Doctor had no trouble handling an invading, malicious alien force, that was practically a weekly occurrence for him anymore. He put one hand to his forehead, and rubbed his temples. The TARDIS was acting definitely acting strangely, and not just because of the difference in universes. There was something else at work here…

 

“Hey, you alright?” Rose leaned towards him, looking closely at his face. Reaching over, she took his free hand and gave it a concerned squeeze.

 

The Doctor smiled widely, and sat upright, letting his feet rest on the barn floor. He knew Rose would know he was lying if he said anything, but still hoped to distract her for the time being, at until he could figure out what was going on here.

 

“Oh yes. You know me, I’m always alright,” he said as he ran his hand through his wild, spiky hair, “Not a big fan of medical procedures is all. Well, I like when medicine saves people, but the whole ‘cutting into the brain’ bit always gives me a bit of a turn. Brains are so much more fun when they’re in the head they belong in. Although less fun with Yeerks, I imagine… And I like my insides where they are for the time being, and since Cassie isn’t a practicing surgeon and the risks are astronomical and I’m really hoping things go well. Although, I’m not being operated on anyway… Well, I’m just hoping things go quickly so I can talk to the androi-“

 

Rose just laughed and rolled her eyes.

 

“Doctor, it’s fine,” she said. She gave a small smile, and looked casually around the barn. Now that the initial noise from the group entering the barn had passed, the animals had begun to quiet down, though the healthier ones still shot occasional nervous looks in their direction. Rose shifted into a more comfortable position, and leaned her head on the Doctor’s shoulder.

 

“This is quite the set up they’ve got here. You think she and her friends can turn into every single one of these?”

 

The Doctor put his arm around her, and she nodded towards the far corner of the barn, far from the horse’s stalls.

 

“I mean, those are wolves, yeah? Big bad wolves.”

 

She laughed at her own little joke, and the Doctor smiled. Really, now that the immediate danger had passed, there were a lot of pleasant and fascinating things about this universe. If it weren’t for the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was wrong, the Doctor would be quite enjoying the experience.

 

“Oh yes, it’s fascinating. The ‘morph’ doesn’t appear to be nearly as painful as the regeneration process of a Time Lord, so maybe it worked something like the Zygons shape-shifting capabilities? Although Cassie did mention physically acquiring the DNA… which means they likely don’t need to keep the original source around… Do they absorb memories of the subject, cause- ah! that would be brilliant….”

 

“Doctor.”

 

He was on a roll now. Rose sighed, clearly knowing the beginning of a rant when she heard it, but let him continue for now. New things, puzzles, these were the things that made living over 900 years worthwhile, and things that were as new and interesting as this did not come around every day. Grinning, he spoke even faster.

 

“Of course, it appears to applicable to multiple species’ use. Cassie mentioned the Andalites, the alien species that Cassie’s friend in there and the Yeerk host body of our new friend Visser Three are part of, invented it, which means it’s not an evolutionary trait…. Well, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an underlying biological component. And there’s of course the use of low-level psychic fields for communication. It makes sense that-“

 

“Doctor-“

 

“Given lack of mouths, Andalites would use that for communication, but since morphing allows any user limited access to-“

 

“Doctor! I think Cassie did it! ” Rose said, clearly much more excited now. That, more than anything else, allowed her to break through his rambling train of thought, “It looks like-“

 

<Where is it! Don’t let it touch me!>

 

The Doctor turn his head quickly to look into the operating room, and saw the young Andalite, Ax, jerk upright looking absolutely horrified. Both the Doctor and Rose jumped to their feet, ready to rush into the operating room… but in a moment, Cassie had calmed the young alien back down onto the operating table. The Doctor watched, smiling, as the young girl stroked the alien’s head and carefully finished stitching up the incisions.

 

“Humans…” The Doctor chuckled softly, “Every time I think I’ve seen it all, you lot keep coming up with ways to amaze me.”

 

“Yeah, we’re pretty cool, huh?”

 

“Absolutely brilliant.”

 

Rose smiled and reached over to hold his hand, letting her fingers intertwine with his. The Doctor beamed, and continued to watch the operating room with pure joy on his face. In the operating room, he watched the human Cassie, pick up the Yeerk, Aftran, and gently place her in sink of water, while an android helped an Andalite named Ax sit up slowly. It reminded him of just how powerful different people working together could be, and it gave him hope. The Doctor gave Rose’s hand a gentle squeeze.

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

“It’s going to be alright now,” I said, soothingly.

 

I helped Ax to sit upright. Well, as upright as was possible for a centaur-like alien who as had just had brain surgery to relieve a massive infection. He was still shaking. Tremors rippled through his muscles under his blue fur, and he rubbed his ear where Aftran had crawled out.

 

<Filthy Yeerk,> he spat.

 

“That filthy Yeerk nearly died trying to promote Yeerk-Human peace,” I said firmly, “And then she risked her life to save yours.”

 

Ax was quiet; his eyes thoughtful. I took a deep breath, and did one last inspection of his stitches. Through the observation window, I could see the Doctor and Rose watching me and smiling. I had been so focused on the surgery that I completely forgot they were out there, but now I realized that I was going to have to come up with some way to explain them, and fast. I turned and looked at Erik.

 

“Uh, Erek? Do you think you could carry Ax back to the stall? He’s going to need a few days to recover.”

 

I nodded in the direction of the window, hoping that Ax was still too out of it from the sickness and surgery to pick up on my very unsubtle behavior.

 

“Quiet, undisturbed rest, until he’s feeling better,” I said meaningfully, “Would you be able to stay and keep up the hologram a bit longer?”

 

Erek chuckled, clearly taking the hint. He scooped up Ax into his arms gently as if he was as light as a feather.

 

“Don’t worry about it. A few days is nothing when you’ve been around since before Rome.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled, walking towards the door, “I have a feeling I’ll be able to find something to keep me occupied.”

 

As he opened the door, I sighed deeply, and leaned against the table. My legs suddenly felt weak, and I sat down on a stool, feeling all the adrenaline and fear from the past few hours wash over my body. Even with everyone safe, there was still a terrible, uneasy feeling that I just couldn’t shake. I looked out the window, and saw Rose scolding the Doctor now. Probably to stop him from harassing Ax and Erek with questions, judging by what I knew about him so far… And that wasn’t much. They were strangers. Complete and utter strangers, and I had trusted them with our secret, the Animorph’s secret. I had put all of us at incredible risk on a hunch that I could trust a stranger who called himself the Doctor, and even though everything seemed to have worked out, I knew I would have to explain myself to the others. I bent over and rested my head in my hands. I was too tired to figure any of this out.

 

A drip from the faucet broke my focus. I looked up, and realized Aftran was still in the water-filled sink. I had put her life at risk too. I stood up, and walked over to where she swam blind and helpless. Aftran had said that Rose and the Doctor were trustworthy. And she had saved Ax. I needed to thank her, but more than that, I needed her to help me figure out what to do next. Reaching into the water, I gently scooped my hands around her. Lifting my hands to my ear, I felt her slick, slimy body begin to work its way inside my ear canal. My neurons tingled, and I felt Aftran connecting into my brain.

 

<I think you can trust them Cassie,> began Aftran as the final connections were made, <At least, from what I saw in Rose’s mind... They will certainly try to help you.>

 

<Aftran, I->

 

The door to the operating room opened, and Erek stuck his head through.

 

“Cassie, Ax is sleeping now in the stall. He appears to be doing fine,” he said, and then looked over his shoulder back into the barn where Rose and the Doctor stood, “I’ve set up my holograms so that we all can talk without worrying about disturbing Ax.”

 

“Ah, yeah. Yes. We should probably, uh, do that…”

 

<It’ll be fine, Cassie.>

 

I followed Erek into the barn, and saw a slight shimmer as I stepped through the hologram. Even as an Animorph, it was a strange day when I had 3 aliens, two humans, and one very amused looking android in my barn. I took a seat on an old stool by my dad’s workbench, and looked out at the others.

 

“So…” I began.

 

Where to start? I paused, unsure of what to say. To my right, Erek spoke up cheerfully.

 

“Well, I know I’d certainly love to hear this story.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

Rose Tyler

 

The Doctor laughed, and Rose couldn’t help but smile.

 

The stall where the alien -“Andalite, remember?” Rose thought- Ax was resting appeared completely empty, probably because Erek, the android, felt the Doctor wouldn’t be able to stop prying otherwise. Rose smiled. For his part, the Doctor had managed to keep himself from running into the stall, but Rose knew he was still incredibly curious to investigate more. His attention was focused on Erek for now, but his eyes kept glancing over to the “empty” stall. Rose was sitting comfortably on a hay bale when Cassie spoke up.

 

“Let me get you something for those,” she said, “I’m sorry, I should have offered sooner…”

 

Rose touched her face where Visser Three had cut her, then looked at her arm. She had forgotten all about the injuries in the chaos of everything else, but now she remembered that they hurt. Quite a bit. The bleeding had stopped, at least, but there might be a scar on her arm one day. Cassie looked concerned.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Rose smiled, “You had a lot more important things on your mind than a few scrapes on me.”

 

The younger girl grabbed some alcohol and bandages from a nearby cabinet, and sat next to Rose to clean the wounds. She winced when Cassie dabbed them with the disinfectant, but kept smiling anyway. Cassie was clearly worried about her, and Rose knew she had enough on her mind already.

 

“Well,” the Doctor said, “You can call me the Doctor, and this is my companion, Rose Tyler. We seem to have ended up in your universe by mistake. My ship, the TARDIS, hit a spot of… well, turbulence. You’d get along with the TARDIS, I imagine, remind me to introduce you later. But anyway! Turbulence! Not unheard of, of course, in fact we had a similar experience not too long again, but well… it is rather unusual just _how_ different everything is here. Well… there are quite a few similarities as well, but… it’s difficult to say just yet.”

 

Erek nodded, as if this made perfect sense to him. Rose supposed that a robot might have a better understanding of this kind of stuff than the average person. Although, he did seem rather, well, human, at least compared to her other experiences with robots… she shuddered at the thought of the Cybermen.

 

“Sorry, almost done,” said Cassie, as she applied the last bandage to Rose’s arm.

 

“Oh, no, not you. You did great!” Rose smiled, “Thank you for that.”

 

“My pleasure,” said Cassie. She picked up the medical supplies and put them back where she had gotten them.

 

“So,” Erek turned to both Rose and the Doctor, “How old are you?”

 

Rose laughed, and the Doctor chuckled.

 

“Quite a bit older than you.”

 

“Oh, I doubt that,” grinned Erek, “I’ve been on this planet since about the time humans started figuring out that whole ‘fire’ thing. You can’t be more than 1,000 years old, unless I’ve missed my guess. Still pretty impressive for a living thing like yourself. What’s with the two hearts?”

 

Rose laughed, but not quite as earnestly as the first time. Though the Doctor remained cheerfully smiling, she couldn’t help but notice a bit of unease in him as well.

 

“Oh, you are brilliant you are. An android, from the dawn of human civilization, completely mechanical, but still with a great sense of humor. I rather like the concept. You really should meet the TARDIS sometime. Who created you?”

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Cassie shoot Erek a quick glance. She still didn’t completely trust Rose and the Doctor, although Rose really wanted what else was left to hide at this point. To his credit, Erek seemed completely unfazed by the Doctor’s questions. Rose was impressed. It wasn’t often someone managed to deduce so much about the Doctor with so little information.

 

“It’s a long story,” said Erek, “And unfortunately, it doesn’t have the happiest of endings.”

  
He paused, and Rose noticed sadness in his eyes that looked all too familiar. She spoke up.

 

“They’re gone, aren’t they? The people who created you, I mean. None of them are still alive.”

 

“Yes,” said Erek simply.

 

There was a long pause. For a moment, the only sound was the scuffling of a squirrel in a cage, digging at the bottom of its cage. Rose looked first at Erek, and then the Doctor. It would be so lonely, she knew, to be that old, and that alone. She had promised herself that the Doctor would never feel that way again; but here, in the presence of this fellow ancient survivor, she knew he was painfully reminded of the loss of the Time Lords again. She could see it in his eyes and the way his posture changed ever so slightly. And then he spoke, and she could here it, that sadness in his voice that never went no matter what new wonders the two of them found together. Rose stood up, and walked over to where the Doctor stood to take his hand.

 

“My people are gone too- the Time Lords of Gallifrey. I’m the last one left,” the Doctor said, and she gave the hand a comforting squeeze.

 

There was another moment of silence before Cassie spoke up. Or rather, Aftran spoke through Cassie. There was a slightly less emotional tone to the speaking, Rose realized now. She was reminded of just how strange it had felt when the Yeerk was in her own head.

 

 

“Cassie is refusing to speak up out of kindness, but her body is exhausted to the breaking point,” Aftran stated simply from Cassie’s mouth, “Perhaps these long stories can wait until both she and the other Animorphs have had time to recover.”

 

There was a pause, and the expression on Cassie’s face shifted to one of embarrassment.

 

“No, really, it’s fine,” Cassie said, blushing.

 

Rose knew Aftran must of released control, and smiled. It was endearing, the way the Yeerk admired and looked after Cassie. She had noticed it when Aftran was in her head as well. She gave the Doctor’s hand a slight tug.

 

“Yeah, you know, I’m getting a bit tired as well,” she said with a large, forced yawn, “I think this can wait until we’ve all gotten some rest.”

 

“I am still curious how you- Ow!”

 

Rose cut off the Doctor’s question with a sharp nudge of her elbow into his ribs.

 

“Right, well, you’re probably right,” said the Doctor, “We’ll, uh, be around. You know where to find us. Big blue police box, sitting in the woods, can’t miss it.”

 

“I’ll try to stop by,” said Erek with a grin. Rose laughed.

 

“Trust me, nothing would make this one happier than being able to show off the TARDIS to someone who’ll appreciate it.”

 

Erek laughed and Cassie gave a small smile.

 

“Rose Tyler, you make me sound like a school boy with his first girlfriend-“

 

“Only because you are,” she said, and this time, Cassie laughed too.

 

“I’ll have to let the others know about all this,” she said, “I don’t think they’re going to be too happy about more people knowing our secret, but it’s too late to worry about that now. I’ll send a message with a time for you to meet everyone soon.”

 

Cassie paused, and then turned to the Doctor.

 

“Aftran says thank you for everything you’ve done. She’d like to stay with me until you are able to complete the Kandrona emitter.”

 

“Right, that should be quick and easy,” the Doctor began, talking quickly, “I should be able to fix up something completely portable, although the power source might be a bit tricky-“

 

“What he’s trying to say is that’s fine, Cassie, Aftran,” said Rose, leading the Doctor out the barn door by the hand now. “We’ll see you soon, yeah?”

 

“Nice meeting you both,” said Erek.

 

“Make sure to stay out of sight!” Cassie said, “The Yeerks know what you look like, Rose, and they will definitely be trying to find you.”

 

Rose laughed, and gave a little wave as she and the Doctor walked out into the night back towards the TARDIS.

 

“Yeah, I think I can handle that. I’ve had worse after me than Yeerks.”

 

The Doctor grinned, and wove his fingers between hers. He gave her hand a squeeze, and they set off across the open pastures.

 

“That’s my girl.”

 

Behind them, Rose heard Erek say something to Cassie.

 

“You guys meet the strangest people.”

 

Rose grinned, and met the Doctor’s eyes. She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, and he snorted with laughter.

 

“Well, you are kind of odd,” she said, smiling at him.

 

“Look who’s talking, Rose Tyler.”

 

 

 

Later that night, Rose sat and watched as the Doctor fiddled with the spare parts that would eventually become Aftran’s Kandrona emitter. He talked quickly, mostly to himself, and she couldn’t understand half of the techno-babble coming out of his mouth. It wasn’t long before she felt her mind drifting sleepily. Her head nodded as she slouched in her seat, and her whole body felt heavy with exhaustion. Rose stood up, realizing if she didn’t lie down soon, she was probably going to fall asleep right then and there. The Doctor was so consumed by his work that he barely noticed her leave. After making her way down several halls to what had become her room, she fell clumsily onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

 

Rose had had nightmares about her travels with the Doctor before. Most of them were chaotic flashes of images that faded quickly once she was startled awake. She could never quite tell what was happening, but she suspected they had something to do with the Bad Wolf incident and the Doctor’s regeneration. So when another nightmare began similarly, she was subconsciously prepared. Until it changed...

 

A pair of piercing red eyes stared at her from the black void of sleep. It felt familiar, like the Time Vortex, and her whole body burned with pain again. Rose was terrified, and tried to run, look away, anything, but her body was frozen. Symbols and fire flashed around her, and the eyes blurred, forming a single being. Rose felt paralyzed. A half-man, half machine creature stared down at her, and she wanted to scream, but her voice was silent. Its head was a giant red eye, and even though it had no mouth with which to speak, Rose heard it laughing.

 

It was all so familiar, too familiar, and that scared her more than anything else. A voice, dark and powerful, echoed in her head. And the Rose felt as if she was released, and she awoke, sitting upright with a terrified scream.

 

“Rose! Rose! What is it?!”

 

The Doctor was there, his hands held her shoulders firmly. Her eyes darted frantically around the room, and her body trembled. She was covered in a cold sweat.

 

“Rose, what’s wrong? What happened?”

 

“I- I don’t know. I just- it was nightmare. But it wasn’t!”

 

Rose’s voice was trembling and unnaturally high. She wrapped her arms around the Doctor, holding onto him as if to anchor herself against the fear. He embraced her, allowing her to press her face into his suit, and stroked her hair softly. Despite her best effort, Rose felt tears begin to fall. Her thoughts raced, but slowly, her body began to relax.

 

“Rose, what did you see?”

 

His voice sounded strange, forced, and Rose pulled away to look up at his face. The Doctor’s eyes were burning and serious. Slowly, she struggled to find the words to describe the nightmare.

 

“Something… something saw me. I don’t know how to explain it, but it _saw_ me. And I couldn’t look away,” she said, her voice stilted with fear. “And it’s eyes, eye… It knew who I was. And then it laughed.”

 

The Doctor pulled her back into his arms, and held her tightly.

 

“A dream. It was just a dream, Rose.”

 

She shivered, and hugged him tightly, her hands clutching the back of his jacket. They sat there in silence and Rose could hear both of the Doctor’s hearts beating. It was a long time before he spoke again.

 

“Rose… Do you remember anything else?”

 

She realized, then, why his voice had sounded wrong. He was afraid. If the Doctor was afraid… well, she’d have to be brave for both of them for the time being. Forcing a smile, she sat away from him, and tried to joke.

 

“Nothing. I mean, it was just a dream, yeah? You hear people say all kinds of weird things in dreams.”

 

“Rose, what did it say?”

 

She fussed with her hair, pulling it back off of her sticky, tear-stained face. Then she adjusted her jumper, and breathed deeply. But she could feel the Doctor’s gaze, and Rose knew she would have to answer. So she took a deep breath, and forced another smile onto her face.

 

“Just some nonsense. It said my name,” Her voice cracked, and she had to stop to catch her self again. She tugged at another loose strand of her hair, pulling it behind her ear.

 

“And, uh, it said… well, it said I was going to die.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

The Doctor

 

The Doctor was beginning to like this universe less and less.

 

He tried not to worry Rose about it. She had enough on her mind: the nightmares had returned over the next two nights, and their meaning was no clearer than it had been the first time. He had taken to waiting outside of her room when she went to sleep -well, he had asked the TARDIS to rearrange itself so no matter what he was doing he was right outside of her room, but that wasn’t really the point- and each time, her screams frightened him more than the last.

 

And then there were the troubles with the TARDIS itself. While it seemed perfectly capable of traveling through space as well as always, time was not cooperating the way it should. The most he was able to travel at one time seemed to be about an hour, forward or backward, it didn’t seem to matter. At least that one fabulous restaurant was open in the underground city in the far corner of the Andromeda galaxy during this time period. It would have been maddeningly frustrating to have to stay in one place for two days while Cassie’s friends recovered from their illness. And Rose of course was curious if she or her family existed in this universe. A short trip to London and they learned that the Tylers did not, in fact, exist in this universe, at least not in any recognizable form. Mickey did however. The Doctor found that both very curious and mildly disappointing, and Rose just sort of found it hilarious that in this universe, her friend had a strange and inexplicable obsession with American country-western music.

 

Really, she was handling this all much better than he was. It had taken him no more than an hour to construct a Kandrona emitter for Aftran the Yeerk, and frankly, traveling through space was almost seemed boring without the added dimension of time. At least the Chee android Erek came to visit on the second day. He had come first to let them know that Cassie was going to try to bring her friends to visit them and figure out a plan the next day and to ask if Aftran would be able to use the homemade pool as well. Rose was actually kind of pleased to talk to Aftran again, and had made sure the Doctor rigged up a set of speakers so that the mild psychic “thought-speak” that the Yeerk used could be heard regularly. The Doctor, meanwhile, found talking to Erek to be incredibly pleasant. Erek and the TARDIS got along splendidly, as he predicted they would. He even suspected his ship was flirting a bit! The nerve of some sentient machinery! After all they had been through together… It was nice though, to talk to someone even older than himself for once, and Rose laughed as he and Erek tried to out do each other’s stories.

 

But still, for far too long of periods, the Doctor found himself unoccupied and troubled, which was never a good combination. There were too many troubling things on his mind…

 

First of all, what had brought them here in the first place? It had been no accident, and no minor force, that had dragged the TARDIS off its intended flight plan into this universe. Whatever it was, it seemed to want them in this time, specifically, and was very unwilling to let them leave.

 

Secondly, of course, Rose’s nightmares. They had only begun when they entered this universe. The fact that whatever it was recognized Rose, a complete stranger to this universe, and that the TARDIS was also malfunctioning, didn’t sit right with him at all. The Doctor was never big on coincidences to start with, and it didn’t take someone with his level of genius to see that there was no way this was one. Was the terrible being that Rose described in her dreams the same force that had pulled them here? Or was there was more at work than they knew yet?

 

The Yeerks, of course, would have to be dealt with, there was no question about that. Slavery and genocide were pretty high on the Doctor’s list of “To Don’t’s” and that wasn’t about to change just because he was in a different universe. They didn’t worry him in the slightest, to be honest. He wasn’t bluffing when he had told Visser Three he had dealt with worse. And he liked the Animorphs- well, he liked Cassie. He hadn’t actually met the others yet. Well- Ax was unconscious, still didn’t count.

 

Cassie was the kind of person he wished he could be, if the Doctor was honest with himself. He had always admired the gentle pacificists, the healers, the people whose belief in the sacredness of life even in the face of war… He called himself the Doctor, yes, but he never let himself forget that he had killed far more innocents than he could ever hope to save, no matter how many lifetimes he spent trying to atone. That was what war did to a person. Even the ones who were good. He had seen it, time and time again, and he didn’t want to see that happen to Cassie, too…

 

“Hey! You awake?” Rose came skipping up, jarring him out of his thoughts momentarily.

 

The Doctor smiled and stretched in the chair he had been resting in near the TARDIS controls. He let out a very, very fake yawn.

 

“Well I don’t know, is there something important going on?”

 

“Oh shut it you. I know you’re excited you get to show off again today,” she grinned, and leaned against the railing. “Aftran told me she’ll stay in the box while they’re here, by the way. Doesn’t think that Ax, the Andalite, will trust us if I let her ride in me for a bit, even after all she did.”

 

“Well, he sounds lovely.”

 

Rose laughed.

 

“I guess the Andalites are really serious about this stuff, or whatever. She still surprised I offered in the first place. I don’t think that happens much.”

 

“Can’t imagine why,” the Doctor rolled his eyes.

 

He was joking, but of course they both new the reason why. Invading force or no, having personal thoughts to yourself was just easier sometimes.

 

“They are coming today, right? I mean, obviously that’s what Cassie told Erek to tell us, but you know,” she gestured to the TARDIS around them, “With things being a little off around here, have you even got us on the right day?”

 

“Rose Tyler, I can still tell time, traveling through it or otherwise!” he said indignantly.

 

“Right,” she laughed, “Says the man who brought me home 12 _months_ after I left home instead of 12 _hours_.”

 

“Oh, unfair! That was one time!”

 

Rose laughed harder now. It always made him happy, when she laughed like that. It helped, not because he forgot his troubles when Rose around, but because she made him think she could overcome them, no matter what the difficulty. Maybe that’s why he wanted to help Cassie and her friends most of all. Giving them that hope too, well… he wasn’t really worthy of the title of Doctor if he couldn’t give someone hope. And he knew that Cassie not only understood, but appreciated what hope, true hope, could do…

 

He had spoken to Aftran, while she stayed with them the past night, in between Rose’s nightmares. She told him about how she had met Cassie. That Cassie passed up numerous opportunities to kill her, abandon her to die, despite knowing that Aftran would betray her as soon as she was given the chance. How Cassie had convinced her that humanity was not just a farm of bodies for Yeerks to use. And that in the end, Cassie had been prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice for even the hope of peace. It was that hope, Cassie’s hope for better relations between Yeerks and humans, her hope for peace, that had not only shown Aftran a new way, but saved the life of the young girl who had been her host as well.

 

“Brilliant,” he had said, when Aftran finished her story. The word was not enough to cover it. The things that one person could do to change the world…. Well, it never ceased to amaze him.

 

But still… for all he admired Cassie, there was something troubling about her too. The fact that the TARDIS had refused Cassie entry… and of course, he himself had mistaken her energy signals for Rose’s upon his initial arrival. It seemed much more likely that, in the chaos of it all, he had been confused and misread something about the signal around Cassie as time energy, but… well… he really was never big on coincidences.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Cassie

 

 

 

“So let me get this straight, because I must be missing something here,” said Marco.

 

Three days later, I had called together a meeting of the Animorphs to explain, well, everything. My friends knew that I had managed to save Aftran and Ax, but I had decided it would be best to wait until everyone had recovered from their illnesses until sharing the whole truth. Erek had agreed to keep the secret for now, and Aftran had graciously agreed to wait with Rose and the Doctor while I broke the news. And then we would meet them all at the TARDIS after I had… explained myself, I guess. To my friends’ credit, they were taking it about as well as I expected.

 

“A random stranger shows up out of nowhere, claims to be an alien, and, despite the fact that we currently depend on secrecy for our survival to fight an alien invasion, YOU TELL HIM EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING?!”

 

“Yeah, yeah, Marco, cut Cassie a break,” Rachel spoke up in my defense. “She took a risk. It worked out, didn’t it?”

 

Like I said, it was going as well as I expected. Gathered in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, I could feel my friends’ eyes staring at me from all corners. Rachel lounged on the hay bale under the rafters where Tobias was perched and keeping an eye out for my parents or any other surprise visitors. Ax stood, looking awkward in his human morph. He was uncomfortable enough to learn that his life was saved by a Yeerk, and I don’t think the Andalite in him liked the fact that yet another alien species was aware of Andalite secrets. Jake sat quietly, looking thoughtful. I was relieved at least, that he didn’t look disappointed in me. I was worried about that more than anything else, I think. In front of the stalls where Ax had been dying only days before, Marco paced, making sure I knew exactly how-

 

“Completely insane! I mean, I know we all do completely insane things before we even have our bowl of breakfast Wheaties every day, but this is a whole new level of complete insane!”

 

“I agree with Marco. GrEE. Ah-gree. Gree.” Ax played with the words, but his face was still troubled.

 

Rachel sighed loudly. She had defended me, against Marco’s jibes, against Ax’s doubt, but I knew she wasn’t happy with me either.

 

“Okay, so it was crazy. But it happened. Cassie made a call, and we can’t change it this late in the game. We just have to figure out what to do now.”

 

<Rachel’s right.> Tobias’s thought-speak echoed in my head. <All that matters now is how we handle this.>

 

Everyone was quiet and one by one, we all turned to look at Jake. It came naturally now, looking at him to make the calls, easy or tough. I knew how hard it was on him, had always known, but I had never really truly appreciated it until these past few days alone. But I still looked to him now with the others. Jake’s face was still pale from the sickness, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Eyes that had been deep in thought since I had brought them all here. With a low sigh, he ran a hand through his hair.

 

“Well,” he said, “I guess we better all go say hi.”

 

“Oh good,” said Marco, “We’re going with the crazy option. That’s such a refreshing change of pace from what we normally do.”

 

I heard a flap of wings above as Tobias flew up out of the rafters into the sky.

 

<Well, at least we’re consistent.> he said, and even Marco grinned.

 

One by one we made our way out of the barn. Above, I could see Tobias circling higher and higher, glad to be free of the cage he had spend the past few days being cared for in.

 

“Consistently crazy! That’s great. It’s like we’re a homing signal for the weird.”

 

“Maybe it’s just you, Marco,” teased Rachel, “Maybe they just sense a kindred spirit.”

 

“Well, that would explain all the danger that keeps finding us then too, Xena.”

 

Jake had hung back, and walked by my side now as the others moved ahead toward the open pastures. He gave me a quick look and I smiled reassuringly.

 

“I assume, Sooo-Muh, when we meet this doctor and Rose that I may demorph. Deee. That is a good sound, Deee. Deeee,” Ax walked awkwardly in front of Jake and I. “I would be more comfortable in my natural form. Fuh. Orm.”

 

“Yes, Dee is one of my favorite sounds,” Marco rolled his eyes.

 

<Pretty sure that’ll be fine, Ax-man, given that they’re aliens too.>

 

“I’m not sure Rose is an alien, to be honest…” I began, but Tobias interrupted.

 

<Hey Cassie, what does this ship, the tartis or whatever, look like? I found it, but it’s cloaked pretty well. Too shimmery to make out a real shape or size. Kind of hard to look at, to be honest.>

 

“That must be a change,” Rachel laughed.

 

“Um, well…”

 

I wasn’t at all sure how to describe the TARDIS, to be honest, and remembering how excited the Doctor was to show it off, I thought it would be best to stay vague about the specifics during my story. I didn’t really understand how any of it worked anyway. And as far as the time travel was concerned… I really didn’t want to get my friends hopes up that high. Not yet. Not until we were sure. I trusted the Doctor, but still wasn’t sure how that would even work.

 

Instead, I tried to find words to describe his ship to Tobias, and then it hit me.

 

“It’s actually, well… it’s actually a big blue box.”

 

Five sets of eyes, four human and one hawk, snapped back to look at me. Finally, Marco said it.

 

“Can someone please, _pleaaase_ just tell me how in the world we managed to find not one, BUT TWO, aliens with a blue box?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes reference to events that occurred during Animorphs book #19, The Departure. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. It tells the story of how Cassie met Aftran 245, and how they became allies. 
> 
> Actually, if you haven't read all the Animorphs books, what are you doing here? Go read those before you read my silly little fanfiction, you fools!


	8. Chapter 8

 

Cassie

 

 

 

“I am going to demorph now,” said Ax, his form already melting and shifting back into his Andalite body.

 

He sounded tense. I had expected that, actually- Andalites were very proud, and it made them uncomfortable when other alien species gained knowledge about them or their technology. The mention of a blue box had made him nervous. It had been Ax’s brother, Elfangor, who had given my friends and I the power to morph, using a small blue box that allowed us to acquire another creature’s DNA. And he had broken the Andalite’s greatest taboo in doing so. They didn’t share their technology, not ever.

 

Blue fur began to spread over Ax’s face, and his mouth disappeared into his face. We all slowed down so he could complete the morph without worrying about keeping up with us walking. Probably for the best, because at that moment, an extra pair of legs shot out of his chest.

 

“So, since we decided to trust these guys, which I still say is one of the stupidest things we’ve ever done- YECK!”

 

Marco had begun to talk when Ax’s spine lengthened and stretched out to form his tail suddenly. Only the tail was just bones, no skin, and had sprouted out right where Marco was about to stand. Morphing was almost never pretty to watch. Almost. Everyone said I was good at it, and I guess it was true. Even Ax agreed I had a natural talent for making it beautiful. An _estreen_ , the Andalites called it: a person who could control the morphing process.

 

I think it had bothered Ax that his brother had so quickly given non-Andalites the morphing technology. Even if he never said so in quite so many words. He understood, of course- the situation had been incredibly desperate. But I knew he didn’t like that I had gone and revealed secrets to even more strangers.

 

“Right, like I was saying- So this guy, he calls himself The Doctor,” Marco began again, “Not Doctor Something. Not just Doctor. _The_ Doctor.”

 

With a popping noise, Ax’s stalk eyes grew out of the top of his head, and the morph was complete. We walked a bit more while Marco talked, almost at the edge of the woods now.

 

“And I’m just wondering- at what point does someone get to just put a “The” in front of their name and call it a day? How famous to I have to be to call myself ‘The Marco’.”

 

“As your best friend, I can assure you that I will never, ever agree to call you that,” said Jake.

 

I glanced over at his face. Beside me, Jake was smiling, and I was relieved. If he was relaxed, then maybe this wasn’t such a bad mistake on my part. Ahead of us, Rachel laughed.

 

“That’s our Marco,” she said, teasingly, “You know, normal people hear about someone called the Doctor, and their first question is ‘Doctor Who’?”

 

<‘Doctor of What?’ ‘A Doctor, why?’ even,> chuckled Tobias above us.

 

“I’m just saying,” Marco pressed on, purposely ignoring the jokes, “The Marco has a nice ring to it. I could get used to that. When-“

 

<Whoa!>Tobias interrupted, <You weren’t kidding, Cassie. It just appeared when I got close, like they know we’re here. Well, I’m here. Up ahead in the clearing… keep walking, you should be able to see it in- >

 

“Oh!”

 

We had gotten to the top of a small hill, and suddenly, the others could all see the TARDIS. It sat, just as I remembered it, on the edge of the woods, looking as though someone had decided to put a phone booth next to a tree for no reason.

 

My friends stopped and stared. I watched as Tobias swooped down and landed on the light on top of the box.

 

<Huh,> he said, <It’s really this big?>

 

“Nevermind the size,” said Rachel, “It looks like a phone booth. Aren’t those supposed to be red or something? What’s the difference in color mean?”

 

“Different aliens come out of them,” said Marco sarcastically, “You only get red ones if you’re from Krypton and need a quick costume change.”

 

<I do not understand what Marco means. Krypton is not a known planet,> said Ax.

 

Marco shook his head in mock sadness.

 

“Ax-man, we’ve got to introduce you to Superman sometime. Your Earth education is incomplete without knowledge of our greatest hero.”

 

“I thought Batman was our greatest hero,” Jake joked.

 

 

 

We had all reached the TARDIS now. Since no one came to open the door, I decided to go up and knock. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake and Rachel exchange a look. Rachel shrugged, her face clearly showing how crazy she thought I, and this whole situation, was. Honestly, it was crazy. I almost started giggling at the thought of knocking on the front door of any of the other spaceships we had seen. Ax continued his thought-speak, not at all subtle about how inelegant he thought the ship appeared.

 

<The design is completely impractical. I fail to see how a ship that size and shape could possible be efficient for space travel of any sort. Perhaps Cassie was misled about its abilities?>

 

One of the TARDIS doors opened suddenly, just wide enough for Rose to stick her head out. She smiled widely to see us all.

 

“You’re all here! That’s great! Give us just a moment, yeah?”

 

A loud crash echoed out from behind her, and I heard the Doctor yell something. Rose winced at the loud noise, then laughed cheerfully. Her eyes shown brightly.

 

“Sorry! You’d think he’d have a better sense of time and what-“

 

Another loud bang. I could practically feel my friends eyes staring into the back of my head, trying to see around the pair of us into the ship.

 

“But he never does seem to be ready on schedule,” she smiled just as a loud buzzer went off.

 

Rose rolled her eyes, and I laughed.

 

“I think he’s trying to show off, honestly, I’ll just come-“

 

“Rose, can you hold this for a moment?!”

 

I heard the Doctor’s voice shout from inside the TARDIS and another crash. Rose shrugged and rolled her eyes again, and with a grin, disappeared back into the TARDIS, pulling the door shut behind her.

 

“So… uh,” I began, feeling a bit sheepish now that I was left alone to explain with my friends again, “That was Rose Tyler…”

 

“I have changed my vote,” said Marco, “I think we should totally trust her. Definitely. One-hundred-percent behind trusting the adorable blonde with the English accent.”

 

“Right,” Rachel said, “Because you totally have a shot with her, Marco.”

 

“I’m just saying I’m willing to take my chances,” Marco grinned.

 

<I would like to state that I still think this is a very bad->

 

Before Ax could finish his thought, the door of the TARDIS swung open again. This time, it was the Doctor.

 

“Right, sorry about that! Place was a bit of a mess, thought I’d tidy up a bit, and wouldn’t you know it, something got loose and was running around pulling out wires. No worries now, I caught it! But I would watch your step none the less, and don’t eat anything you find on the floor! Hello Cassie! Bring everyone in!”

 

I smiled and walked in through the doors past him. My friends weren’t going to believe it until they saw it, and from my own visit, I knew the Doctor would be disappointed if I ruined the surprise. Behind me I heard Rachel mutter something about a clown car.

 

<I might just wait out here,> Tobias out nervously, <Red-tail hawks and confined spaces don’t really mix.>

 

I stood inside and took a place near one of the railings, just in case the Doctor decided to try and fly again. I wanted to be able to hold on to something. I turned, and saw Jake and Marco standing in the doorway, looking dumbstruck. Jake realized he was staring, and snapped his open mouth shut.

 

“I think… you’ll probably be okay…” he said, “Uh… we should all fit just fine…”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Rose Tyler

 

 

Rose was really starting to understand why the Doctor loved showing off the TARDIS so much. It really didn’t get old, watching people see it for the first time. The stunned faces of the teenagers, two boys who looked to be about sixteen, although the one was much shorter than the other, and a blonde girl that Rose guessed must be Rachel. She did kind look like her... Both she and Rachel had almost the same haircut, but Rachel was definitely taller. Rose couldn’t see much of her own face in the girl, but it was easy to see how Cassie had made the mistake from a distance. Rachel was less shocked than the boys too- More impressed than anything. She nodded as she walked in, looking up and all around her.

 

“Wow,” Rachel said, “I mean, I know you said it was impressive Cassie, but like, wow. You weren’t kidding.”

 

“Yeah, impressive is one way to put it, Xena,” the shorter boy said. His eyes were still wide as he stood in shock near the door.

 

“I was leaning more towards HOLY-FREAKING-CRAP myself, but you know, whatever works for you.”

 

Rose turned to Cassie, who simply grinned and shrugged. The Doctor was grinning wildly by the controls, and waiting (remarkably patiently for him) for the rest of the Animorphs to come in. She saw his smile impossibly grow somehow even wider, and then she heard the sound of hoofs tapping on the TARDIS’s metal floor and turned to see the Andalite Ax. The one who had been sick. The one Cassie had saved by performing brain surgery after they had all escaped the Yeerk Pool.

 

Rose had been too busy to pay attention the last time she saw an Andalite, what with the whole ‘life-being-threatened’ thing going on at the time, but she noticed now that it was a little strange watching someone without a mouth show such extreme emotions on their face. The look of “jaw-dropping surprise” was particularly amusing on the face of a creature that didn’t appear to actually have a jaw. All four of his eyes were wide, and the ones that were on snail-like antennae on his head spun backwards, upwards, and sideways taking it all in.

 

“So! The TARDIS! Welcome to and all that!”

 

The Doctor was practically skipping. His eyes darted from face to face, taking in each of their expressions. Rose smiled and leaned back against the railings as he continued to pace about madly.

 

“I’m the Doctor,” he said, now shaking the taller brown-haired boy’s hand perhaps a bit too over-enthusiatically.

 

“Uh… Jake,” the boy said. Jake’s face looked overwhelmed, but he did stand a bit straighter and do his best to return the handshake calmly despite the Doctor’s antics.

 

“Pleasure to meet you Jake! And you must be-“

 

<AAAAH!>

 

A voice rang out in Rose’s head and she jumped as a large bird flew in through the open door of the TARDIS. Had the railing not been behind her, she probably would have fallen over. The bird’s wings flapped violently as it struggled to find a place to land before swerving up into the steel rafters and grabbing hold of one.

 

<You guys could have WARNED ME!> the bird, Rose realized, said as it ruffled its feathers in indignation.

 

“Sorry man,” the shorter boy said with a grin, “But we’re all sort of adjusting here too. Didn’t exactly think to yell, ‘Bigger on the inside, but not bird-friendly!’ “

 

“Oh! Brilliant! Are you normally a hawk?” asked the Doctor.

 

He had continued his way over to Rachel and was now shaking her hand, even while staring up at the disgruntled looking (“Do hawks normally look disgruntled?” thought Rose) bird.

 

<I guess that kind of depends on your definition of the word ‘normally’> said the hawk, sounding much more relaxed now that he had settled onto a perch.

 

“Sorry, the Doctor doesn’t always say things terribly politely,” said Rose, “What he means is, is the hawk a morph, like Cassie and the elephant? Or-“

 

“Tobias is human,” Rachel interrupted before Rose could finish, “He just got stuck that way.”

 

“Stuck?” Rose was a little horrified. “You can get stuck?”

 

“Really?” the Doctor said, stopping mid-dash, his forehead wrinkling with concern.

<I kind of ended up on permanent red-tail hawk mode.>

 

Rose stared up at the bird, Tobias, a human… even more concerned. How do you apologize for someone getting stuck as hawk? What does a person even say to that?

 

“Are you alright? I mean, is there anything we can do to help?”

 

She would have sworn she saw the hawk Tobias shrug.

 

<I can still morph. Long story, but in the end, it’s not actually all that bad.>

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Rachel frown. She sensed that maybe this was a conversation that they shouldn’t have, and changed the subject.

 

“So you’re Rachel, yeah? I already met Cassie, and you’re Jake,” she said, gesturing around the room, “I’m Rose Tyler, human, though not from this universe it seems.”

 

That clearly reminded the Doctor that he still hadn’t finished greeting the Animorphs, and his eyes grew wide with enthusiasm again. He darted over to Ax, but paused a moment, unsure of whether he should shake his hand or not. Andalites were built like centaurs it seemed, and they did have hands, although Rose noticed now that they definitely had more fingers than a human hand would.

 

“Good to see you up and about! It sounded like you had everyone worried, from what Cassie told us!”

 

The Doctor smiled broadly, and Ax turned all four of his eyes to look at him. Unlike the other Animorphs, his face was very serious. It seemed as though he had gotten over his shock much more quickly. That must just be because he wasn’t from Earth either.

 

<I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, an Andalite _aristh_. It is unfortunate that you had to first encounter me in such a state; however, I am grateful for your aid. >

 

The Andalite turned the stalk eyes to look at Rose, but kept the main eyes facing the Doctor.

 

<It seems that you were both quite instrumental to Cassie’s mission and saving my life. I am in your debt.>

 

His tone was so serious and flat, almost emotionless. He was young though, Rose realized. Much younger than whichever poor Andalite had been enslaved by the Yeerk Visser Three. He still had the long, vicious-looking bladed tail though…

 

“It was absolutely my pleasure to help, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill,” the Doctor said, of course pronouncing the long name perfectly. Rose smiled.

 

“Honestly, Cassie helped us out a lot too. The Doctor would have had a lot of trouble finding me if it weren’t for her. And she save your life with that surgery- we could have never have done something like that.”

 

“Exactly!” said the Doctor, and Rose saw that Cassie was blushing now, “She was absolutely brilliant, couldn’t have done any of it without her!”

 

If Cassie’s skin wasn’t so dark already, she’d be glowing red from all the praise. And it made Rose quite happy to see that the others, particularly Rachel and Jake, were clearly glad to see Cassie praised too. Speaking of which…

 

The Doctor now moved to the last of the Animorphs. The boy was clearly ready for the Doctor’s exuberance at this point, and had his hand out and ready to be shaken.

 

“Saving the best for last, I see,” he said, grinning broadly, “I’m Marco. And-“ he paused, and nodded at Rose with a grin, “I am most definitely human.”

 

Off to the side, Rachel snorted, and Rose thought she saw Jake roll his eyes as well. She laughed, but Marco continued to smile as charmingly as he could manage with the Doctor grinning in his face.

 

“Pleasure to me you all! Really, it’s an honor. The things you’re doing, bravely defending humanity! It’s incredible, it really is! Absolutely, without a doubt, some of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met!”

 

The Doctor released Marco’s hand now, and practically skipped back up the steps to the front of the TARDIS controls. He held his arms out wide as he turned, gesturing to the machinery all around them.

 

“Well, this is the TARDIS! It’s my ship, and it’s the best in the entire universe. Well, when it’s not busy showing off and flirting with your android friend Erek. Honestly, I don’t know what gets into this thing’s head sometimes.”

 

He ran his hands along the controls and then turned back to the Animorphs, who were beginning to look at him like they thought he was completely mental. Not that Rose could blame them. She did the same thing once, when she had first met the Doctor. He seemed completely unfazed by it though, and continued to chatter quickly on.

 

“Right! So, TARDIS- Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Best ship in the universe! I can take you anywhere and any-when you want to go. Well, normally I can. Travelling into a different universe seems to have set things a bit haywire, so time-travel’s really only possible about an hour in either direction, but I’ll have that sorted out soon enough. We always get her up and running eventually, right Rose? Until then, I think I can manage to help you solve this invasion problem without too much trouble. Yeerk technology is fairly impressive given what they are and all-“

 

For a brief moment, Rose could have sworn she saw Ax flinch and stiffen just a bit-

 

“-But it really is rather simple to manipulate once you figure it out. Give me a day or two and I should be able to work this all out, no trouble at all. Not a big fan of slavery and genocide, personally, so really it’ll be my pleasure to get this all taken care of for you.”

 

Now the Animorphs were definitely looking at him like he was completely mental. Rose saw the taller boy- Jake- shrug briefly before turning to look around at his friends. If the Doctor noticed, he didn’t show it. Instead, he turned to smile at Rose, then flipped his sonic screwdriver his hand as he faced the stunned faces of the Animorphs again.

 

“Right, any questions so far?”

 

 

* * *

 

END OF PART I OF THE ANIMORPH WHO SERIES-

TIME TO CHANGE

 

STAY TUNED FOR PART II

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of Part 1 of what is going to be (as of now) my little Animorphs/Who three-part series. I wanted to this particular "book" here, because from this point onward, all of the Animorphs will be taking turns narrating, and I want that to be clear to readers. In the original Animorph books, a single Animorph narrates each seperate book (with the exception of the Megamorphs books, of course). And you know, I can make more fun fake covers this way. Cause that's a thing, haha. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed Part 1 and I really, really hope you come back for Parts 2 and 3!


End file.
